


Forget-Me-Not

by Jun_S_Kay



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Autoimmune disease, Bullying, Cute, Family, Gen, Multichapter, Rated For Violence, Sweet, a lot of fluff, angel is a great sister, but she really wanted a puppy, good dad Jack AU, heir to hyperion, join the party that is kid Rhys and dad Jack, kid Rhys, rhys will have to go to school, vaughn is a therapist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-29
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-05-29 21:25:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6394408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jun_S_Kay/pseuds/Jun_S_Kay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One day Handsome Jack meets a strange kid in the elevator on his way down for an inspection. He figures out that the child, apparently named Rhys, is suffering from an autoimmune disease; his body is attacking itself, and he has no family to help him. Jack takes him in, and has to deal with every trial that presents itself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hey there, champ

**Author's Note:**

> So, I needed a little side story to keep my mind off the gruesomeness that is becoming project AMA.ri, and the entire universe clinging to it. Something sugary sweet will do.

Jack sat at the dark brown wooden dinner table in his penthouse. He didn’t have his mask on, and pair of simple glasses sat on the bridge of his nose. He had tossed aside his coat, and long blouse, simply sitting in his comfortable sweater, and underwear. Papers, with so much text that it made him dizzy, lay in front of him. Taunting, and _laughing_.

His daughter, Angel, watched from her comfortable position on their leather couch. She sipped her apple juice through a straw, trying to figure out what her father was doing _without_ actually asking him. She was too far away to figure out what those papers said, but the man’s mumbling gave her some hints.

“Have you ever been arrested for an offense other than a minor traffic violation…? _Yes_.”

The girl bit back her grin, and just asked. “Dad, what are you doing?”

Jack mumbled something, but didn’t really give an answer. All he said was: “Why do you even need to know that shit? _Dicks_ …”

His daughter sighed, loud, and dramatic (just like dad taught her), and stood up. The fourteen-year-old quietly made her way over to him, and leaned over the papers.

            “Angel, you’re standing in my light!” Her father hissed, waving her away with his hand.

            “Are those adoption papers?” She pulled back, taking another sip from her apple juice. Her face lit up. “Oh my god! Are we getting a puppy?! Are you finally listening to me?!”

            “Not quite a puppy…” Jack sighed, taking his reading glasses off, and tossing them onto the table.

            “An older dog?”

            “A kid, Angel.”

She was silent, trying to figure out if this was an impulsive little something, or if he was serious.

            “You’re serious.” She eventually said. “You’re… _actually_ serious about this. What? Am I not good enough?!”

Oh, teenage tantrums. Why didn’t they skip his daughter?

            “That’s not it, Angel! He’s… special.”

While she still fumed inside, she was curious. “What do you mean?”

Jack leaned back in his chair, rubbing his bare face with his hands. “It started a couple days ago.”

\---

Hyperion was a corporation that mainly focussed on weaponry, _but_ with death lurking around almost every corner _within_ the company, they decided it would be a good idea to also invest in medical advancements. The result was the company’s very own hospital, which took up three floors; one for check-ups and regular admissions, the second for the ICU, and the third floor was for surgeries.

As the CEO of Hyperion, one had _fun_ tasks, and… not so fun tasks. _Fun_ tasks were when he could test guns on employees. Not so fun were the meetings, and the inspections he had to do almost every day.

Today, Handsome Jack waited for the elevator to reach his office. He had his arms folded, and a scowl on his face. The expression pulled on his mask, stretching it to mimic the scowl the best it could. The man tapped with his foot on the floor, impatience being something all too familiar to him. It was 8pm, and he was just an inspection away from freedom. Then he could just _go home_ , and have a late snack/ dinner with his fourteen-year-old daughter.

A happy ‘ping’ signified the elevator’s arrival, and the metal doors parted. Jack stepped in without a second thought, and pressed the button for the first hospital floor. He only noticed the other person in the elevator when the doors closed. The man had to look twice to be _absolutely sure_ that his eyes didn’t fool him.

A child stood on his left. In his small hand he held a little, pink, rabbit plush. The boy was giggling to himself, pushing the front legs into the plush body one at a time, over, and over again. The kid himself had chestnut brown hair, and a brown eye to match. His other eye was covered by a patch, and the right sleeve of his white shirt was bunged up. His skin was pretty pale, but not scarily so.

            “Uh… Hey, there, champ?” The adult tried. He liked kids, as long as they didn’t bawl their eyes out next to his ear.

He was point blankly ignored, in favour of playing with the plush.

            “What ya doing?”

The kid still didn’t look at him, keeping his big brown eye focused on his toy. “I used to have a bunny, and I’d _always_ play with her feet. I like playing with this bunny’s feet, too.” He turned to the man, not at all frightened or intimidated. “Try it.” He held the bunny up.

            “No, I really shouldn’t, kiddo.” He objected.

            “ _Try_ _it_.” The little kid insisted, stepping closer.

Jack sighed, and took the bunny from his hand. “M’kay.” He kneeled down. “What do I do?” _This is ridiculous_ , the man thought to himself.

            “Put your fingers there.” His little hand placed large thumbs on the plush front paws. “And press one at a time.”

The CEO started playing with the paws, and sure enough, a low chuckle started bubbling up. It was strangely _amusing_. When the kid tried to take the bunny back, Jack quickly stood up, and kept it out of reach.

The little thing had a priceless expression plastered on his young face, and he quickly started to jump to reach his plush.

            “I like this too much to give it back, kiddo.”

            “But, it’s mine!” The child stomped with his little foot on the floor of the elevator.

            “Not anymore.” Jack returned to playing with the paws.

He puffed his cheeks up in a flare of anger, and jumped. He managed to crawl his way up on the CEO’s back, and wrapped his little arm around his neck. “Give Carrot back!”

            “No, he’s mine now!” The man gave his best evil laughter.

            “Carrot is a girl, _stupid_!”

The elevator ‘pinged’, and the doors parted. The CEO of Hyperion paid the kid clinging to his back no mind, and just strolled out.

The little thing only had one arm, so he couldn’t exactly grab his plush back. He decided to just stay on the man’s back, and bide his time.

Jack walked through the hallways, glaring at anyone that even _dared_ staring at him, the plush, or the boy on his back. His thumbs were still pressing down on the paws, causing him to laugh to himself every now, and then.

The glass sliding doors parted for him. As they should. _Seas_ should part him, if he was being honest. He had expected, of course, that the head-doctor would come running for him. What he didn’t expect, was the name he called out.

            “Rhys!” He came to a stop near them, expression of anger being replaced by fright when he saw the face of the man that the kid clung to. “Oh gosh…”

            “He stole Carrot!” The kid cried out.

The doctor’s eyes glided from the masked man to the little pink plush in his hands. “Rhys, just get down. You need to go back to bed!”

            “Not without Carrot!” Rhys gritted his teeth, and balled his little hand in Jack’s _expensive_ coat.

            “Do you even know who that man is?!”

            “A thief!”

            “ _That_ is the _CEO_ of Hyperion! You cannot _cling_ to him!”

            “Nuh-uh!”

The man stepped closer, cautiously keeping his eye on his boss’ expression. Other doctors had ventured out of their offices to watch the commotion. “Rhys… Don’t make me get the sedative.”

Tears sprung in the kid’s visible eye. “No!”

            “Then come down.”

            “I want Carrot!”

The doctor turned away from him, looking at a nurse. “Get the sedative.”

Jack’s face contorted to form a frown when the little kid started crying. He _did not_ need this right now. “Hey.” He tried to get his attention. “Hey!” He insisted. “Kid, listen up.”

Rhys sniffled, burying his snotty nose in the man’s jacket.

            “Oh my god…” He felt some mucus on his skin. “Look. If you get down, all nice, and calm… I’ll give you your… _Carrot_ back. Then you won’t need a sedative. Sound good?” The CEO felt the kid nod. “M’kay.” He kneeled down, glaring up at the doctor. One that clearly stated: _Tell anyone about this, and you’re dead, and then your family will also be dead_.

Rhys let go when he felt his feet touch the floor. He wiped away the snot from below his nose, and was finally handed back his plush. He hugged the little thing to his chest, and gave a weary glance to the doctor.

The man in the white coat stared him down. “Get back to bed, Rhys.” He pointed to the right, with stern eyes.

The kid gave a sad nod, and followed the order.

Jack watched his small, retreating form, before turning his attention to the doctor.

            “Let’s just get this inspection over with, right s-sir?” He had a light stutter, probably fear induced. “I’m certain you want the same.”

            “Yep.” The CEO popped the ‘p’ out of habit, and started his stupid little inspection. He pushed any thoughts about the little kid to the very back of his head, pretty sure he just had a little accident, and that _that’s_ why he was here. He was ready to drop the subject. Really. It was just a coincidence that the doctor brought it up.

            “Sorry about Rhys, sir. He manages to escape every now, and then.”

            “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Jack started his response. “Wait. He _escapes_? What kinda shit security do you have here?!”

            “Just c-cameras.” The man shrunk a little bit in his stature.

The CEO groaned, folding his arms as he walked. He glanced to his left, taking a peak into a hospital room.

The kid sat on his stark white bed, kicking his legs, and petting the plush in his lap. He looked up for a moment, and just stared at him.

Jack gave a wave, being the ever so friendly person he was, but received nothing in return. Rhys turned his attention back to his rabbit.

The doctor probably noticed his expression fall, and gave reassurance. “Don’t worry about that, sir. He’s like that with everyone.”

            “What happened to him, anyway?”

The man hesitated in answering, but a glare from his boss prompted the start of his sentence. “H-he has an autoimmune disease, s-sir.”

            “Riiight. Lost interest. Thought something cool happened.” Jack huffed, and ran a hand through his perfectly styled hair. “Let’s get this over with, I’m bored.”

While the doctor wasn’t exactly sure what part of being in the hospital was _supposed_ to be cool, he was happy enough to drop the subject, and have the inspection start properly.

\---

A new day. And one filled with meetings at that. Fantastic.

Jack was disgruntled, to say the least. His sour mood already started when he got home yesterday, and Angel _refused_ to come out of her room. She had even _locked_ the door. It continued with, yet another, night of immensely poor sleep, which left the man groggy without a good cup of coffee. Which was the third reason for his mood. The coffee machine was broken. Of course it was.

So, here Handsome Jack stood. Waiting in front of the elevator with the most _horrible_ cup of coffee in his hand, and his schedule in the other. He should really hire a personal assistant.

The doors parted, and he stepped in. He pressed the button for the communal meeting room.

A sigh alerted him.

He looked to his left, and there the kid stood again. This time, he didn’t have his bunny plush with him.

Rhys stared at the closed doors, hand fiddling with his shirt. Today it was a pink one.

Jack glanced at the floor buttons, seeing only the floor he chose lit up. That meant that the kid was literally just _standing_ there, doing absolutely nothing. Kinda creeped him out. Nevertheless, he still greeted the kid. “Hey, uh, Rhys.”

The child suddenly looked up, brown eye widened by what seemed to be fear. After a moment, he calmed back down. Relaxing. “Hi. Who are you?” He gave a big grin, stepped closer, and held out his hand to greet.

The CEO took his hand, and shook it with a sceptical expression plastered on his face. “Jack, _CEO of Hyperion_.”

            “Where are you going?” Rhys didn’t let go of his hand, instead circling around him to stand on the other side.

            “A meeting, kiddo. Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

The kid just vigorously shook his head, an angry pout appearing into view.

Jack snorted, and grabbed a better hold of the little hand. “How old are you, Rhys?”

            “Eight.”

The elevator doors parted, revealing the pair to the anxious people sitting in the meeting room. They had been waiting for a good thirty minutes, but no one even _dared_ to object to their boss’ tardiness.

The CEO strolled forward, the child happily following after him. He plopped himself down in the largest chair, and pulled one out for the kid.

Rhys ignored the gesture, and climbed in his lap instead. He patted the table a few times, eye scanning what was within his reach. He leaned over the steel table, and grabbed one of the many pieces of paper, and promptly stole a pen from one of the employees’ hands.

Jack wanted to object at first, but decided against it because the kid had completely settled, and was already drawing something. He just gave a wide grin, and narrowed his eyes. “Let’s get started!” He ruffled the kid’s hair, and leaned back.

The meeting proved to be less horrendous than it usually was, and Handsome Jack knew _full well_ that it was because of little Rhysie in his lap. The kid had _no problem_ with interrupting the entire meeting to show him a new ‘masterpiece’, and he actively argued with the employees because they were being _boring_. Jack loved every bit of it.

The meeting was dismissed, and the employees scurried away. The CEO looked over the kid’s shoulder, watching the scattered drawings. There were _a lot_ of rabbits, and other animals. He was currently fussing over a drawing that was already titled ‘Jack’. The child was just scratching on the paper, not even making a human shape.

            “Is that how you see me, yeah?”

Rhys nodded, leaning forward to focus.

In silence, the kid drew, and the adult managed his own schedule. An hour easily passed. An hour before Jack remembered that this kid was supposed to be in the hospital because of a freakin’ _autoimmune disease_. “Fuck.”

The child gasped. “Naughty word.”

The CEO quickly lifted the kid up in his arms, ignoring the yelps, and protests. He quickly made his way over to the elevator, and _smashed_ the down button while holding Rhys with his other arm. He was _so light_.

            “My drawings!” Was protested when they stepped into the elevator.

            “I’ll bring them to you later, don’t worry, kiddo.” While he seemed calm on the outside, all Jack’s brain was doing, was saying: ‘ _Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit_.’ to itself.

 

By the time the two arrived at the glass sliding doors that greeted people into the main hospital area, Jack was panting. He should probably work out more, not that anyone needed to know.

Rhys had apparently forgotten all about his drawings, and was squealing in happiness when he was carried down the hallways with a fast pace.

            “If only you were so pliant yesterday.” He set him on the ground.

The kid frowned, genuinely confused. “What do you mean?”

A young nurse noticed the two, and walked to an open room. “Doctor Michaels. Rhys is back.” He just said. The man then returned to his duty; aiding his patients.

Doctor Michaels was apparently the same man from yesterday. You _couldn’t_ blame Jack for not remembering such a plain face, and name.

The man quickly padded over to Rhys, his face the same kind of angry as yesterday. “Rhys…” His voice was… well it was pretty scary being all calm, and low like that.

Rhys quickly clung to Jack, hiding in his coat jacket. On instinct, the CEO wrapped his arms around the boy’s little frame.

The doctor held his ground under the stern glare of his boss. “Rhys, you need to be in bed. I keep telling you that.”

            “Nu-uh! This is the first time you said so!”

Michaels sighed, and kneeled down. “Go back to bed, the nurses will be with you soon. Just like every day.”

Rhys just shook his head, clinging tighter to his new adult friend.

            “Look at me, sweetie. I’m not angry.” He took such deep breaths, managing to completely calm himself down.

The kid glanced his way, tears making his eye red, and staining his cheeks. He quickly hid himself again.

Jack was… confused. Sure, no kid liked doctors, but Rhys was acting strange. The man pushed him away a bit. “Rhysie, can you go to bed? For me, kiddo?” He wiped away the tear tracks, as he had done so often for Angel.

The doctor remained silent, just watching the pair. He gave a relieved sigh when the kid nodded, and thus motioned for a nurse to come over.

The little lady had blonde hair, tied into a messy bun. She took the boy’s hand, like she did almost every day, and guided him back to his bed. On their way, they talked about the very same thing they always did: his plush bunny Carrot, and the adventures she would have.

Jack stood, scratching the back of his head.

Michaels followed his example, dusting his legs off, and righting his coat.

The CEO took a deep breath. “Why didn’t he remember me today?”

            “He never does.”

            “Explain.” It peaked Jack’s interest, and he didn’t have anything important planned today anyway. Just some boring meeting with Atlas, or something.

The other nodded, motioning for his boss to follow him into his office. He waited with his explanation until the man had sat down, and folded his arms.

Jack always had this _demanding_ aura around him, prompting everyone to just get right to it. So, the doctor did.

            “Rhys has an autoimmune disease, as I said yesterday. It means that his body is attacking itself.”

            “Which is the reason he only has one eye, and arm, right? Yeah, ya told me that.” Jack was clever enough to figure out what happened. The disease attacked the cells, and tissue, which resulted in the limb, and eye probably having to be removed to prevent further infection.

            “Scans show that the disease is targeting his brain, making him forget _everything_ the second he wakes up from a deep sleep. Which means that _every single day_ I have to reintroduce myself to him, and explain to him why he’s here. Every day I have to watch the poor kid cry for a mother he doesn’t even remember.” He took a deep breath. “Sometimes he wakes up really early, and just wanders out of the hospital, because he doesn’t know what he’s doing here. Most of the time, he doesn’t understand expressions either, simply unable to place them. We’ve never seen anything quite like it.”

            “Where _are_ his parents? Do they have to reintroduce themselves everyday as well?”

            “…They gave up on him.”

            “What?!” There were a few things that angered Jack. Stupid employees, bad business deals, bad guns, Atlas, and _traitors_. To him, Rhys’ parents were no better than traitors were.

            “They couldn’t handle it.” Michaels leaned back against his desk. “They already noticed it when he was a toddler, when he would constantly forget what he was doing. Then the disease attacked his body with full force, which caused him to be hospitalised. The bills were too high, and the pressure was too much. They didn’t feel like they had a choice.”

            “Bullshit.” The man hissed. “They always have a choice!”

            “What was their other option then, sir? Let the child suffer without medical aid, because they couldn’t afford it?”

Jack was quiet.

            “They did what was _best_ for the child. This way he would still be given the basic medical care, and he has the chance of getting a new family.”

            “…Right…” The man rested his head in his hands, and his elbows on his knees. “How’s he doing now?”

            “Because of the administered medication, the disease has stopped attacking his cells. So, his remaining limbs are all healthy now. We have regular scans for his brain, watching out for any danger. So far, it seems to have paused.”

Jack nodded, frowning as he stared down at his sneakers.

            “Sir?” The doctor stepped away from his desk. “Are you all right?”

            “You said he’s up for adoption?”


	2. The Start of your Trials

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I was pretty surprised by how well this story was received! Thanks to everyone for the comments, and I hope you continue enjoying the story.

It took some backstabbing, killing, and destroying of official documents. But, _finally_ Jack’s record was clean enough to _officially_ adopt a child. He answered every stupid little question they threw at him on those pieces of paper, and he was currently sitting in front of Rhys’ doctor.

The man looked… sceptical at best. “ _Ever committed a crime which as punishment was jail_?” He read the question out loud.

            “I filled in ‘ _No_.’.”

            “And you believe that answer?”

            “Check my record! Check _all_ ya want, cupcake. But, _I_ am _squeaky_ clean.”

            “Must be the mask that squeaks.”

            “Well! _Somebody_ grew a pair of big, gross, hairy balls today!” Jack laughed, forced to keep a good image if he wanted to adopt the kid.

The two stared at each other, forced smiles glued into place.

            “Soooo?”

            “What?” The doctor feigned ignorance, taking this precious moment to enjoy the man’s face. How often could one tease _the_ Handsome Jack, and live?

            “Can I take Rhys with me?”

            “Do you have a bedroom ready? Food? Other expenses?”

            “…No…?”

            “Make sure that you have that first, _then_ an employee from the adoption centre will visit your penthouse to inspect everything. They are the ones that ultimately decide, with my vote for, or against, if you can take Rhys with you.”

            “So, this.” Jack made extravagant movements with his hands, regarding the room. “Was completely _useless_.”

            “Not quite. I checked your answers, and gave you tips. Sir.”

The CEO groaned, rubbing his face with his hands. “Fine. Fine. Okay.” It was so difficult when you _couldn’t_ just strangle someone. “I’ll fix that. When I have the bedroom, and shit, _then_ can I adopt the kid?”

            “You have my vote, sir.” Michaels said with a smile.

            “Really?” He didn’t have to threaten him?

            “Rhys likes you, and you _seem_ to at least know how to talk, and care for a child.”

            “Okay, great!”

            “But.”

            “They is always a but, isn’t there?” The man folded his arms, leaning back in his chair with a glare.

            “Child services will visit your apartment regularly. Probably once a month, or so. Especially the first year. They need to know _for_ _sure_ that the child is safe there. So…”

            “No murder in the house?”

            “No murder in the house.” Was affirmed.

Jack kept his face emotionless as he gave a thumbs up, ending their conversation.

\---

Emptying a room of useless clutter wasn’t that difficult. Decorating it under Angel’s watchful eye… was.

            “We’re not making it yellow.”

            “Yellow is amazing!”

            “We’re making it green, dad. That’s a nice colour.”

Jack groaned, not wanting to give in. “I want at least _one_ yellow wall.”

            “Yellow doesn’t look good with green!” His daughter backfired.

            “Then we just get rid of the green, right?”

Angel folded her arms, tilting her head to the side, and cocking her weight to her left hip. Jack just mimicked her, throwing a scowl in the competition.

            “…Heads or tails, old man?”

            “Heads.”

The teenager took a coin out of the front pocket of her jeans, and threw it over her shoulder, against the wall.

The tiny thing clattered against the wall, and then down onto the wooden floor. Neither of the two moved, glaring at each other.

Jack took a step forward, Angel one backward. She _knew_ that her dad would turn the coin if it ended up being tails. Another step, and then the CEO rushed forward.

The daughter stomped her foot, wearing a heavy combat shoe, down onto the coin. She narrowly missed the man’s fingers.

            “Watch where you plant those, bigfoot!” Jack pulled his hands back, petting one with the other.

Angel kneeled down, lifting her foot up slightly, and out of the way. She scowled. “Heads…”

            “Daddy’s gonna get some yellow paint!” The man cheered like child, throwing his hands in the air.

            “Please don’t refer to yourself as ‘daddy’…” The teenager deadpanned.

            “But, I am a daddy now!” Jack walked out of the room with the biggest grin on his face.

            “You already were!” She called after him, scowling.

\---

With the walls yellow, and a big bed standing in the centre, against a wall, the room was starting to look like something. Angel was putting together a black, wooden bookshelf, eager to fill it with books she read when she was younger.

As she screwed in a bolt, she caught herself smile. At first… Well, she was completely _against_ getting a little brother. They were so _difficult_ , but then Jack just went on, and on about him, and she couldn’t help but start to like him. The kid sounded nice, innocent, and a little _sassy_.

Rhys could read a little, so she could teach him more. _Oh_ , she looked forward to teaching him how to get around Hyperion without anyone noticing!

Angel started humming, trying to hear herself above the whirring from the automatic screwdriver. She looked over her shoulder, watching Jack unpack posters, and books. She stopped her work, and turned around completely, curious. “What… are those?”

            “To help him learn with the… ya know. _Expressions_ thing.”

            “I’m not sure if it’ll be good for him to have multiple versions of _your_ face, one with a _really_ angry expression, hanging on the wall.”

Jack was silent.

His daughter stood, and walked over to him. She leaned over his shoulder. “You can cut the faces out individually, and teach him personally. Helps with the whole bonding thing. I mean, it’s still _hella_ creepy that it’s _your_ face, but it could work?”

He grunted, maybe in a form of agreement.

\---

The room was… yellow. Angel tried her best to hide the walls with her bookshelves, but she could only justify so many… They were filled with her old books, plushes, and little statues.

The family of two warily watched the people of child services wander through the penthouse. One of them actively _searching_ for anything wrong.

The man tapped against _everything_ , which earned him a twitch of Jack’s eye. He even purposely bumped his head against the doorknob for god’s sake. Who does that?!

Nevertheless, the CEO of Hyperion kept his lips tightly sealed together.

When the group reluctantly handed over the permission papers to sign, Jack snatched them out of their hands with a big grin on his face. He had his pen ready in his pocket, _his special fountain pen_. One that wrote in red. He signed the papers, and shoved whatever he _didn’t_ need back in their hands.

            “When can we pick him up?” Angel hooked her finger in one of the loops that held her father’s belt. She kept him from storming out of the house.

            “Next week, Monday.”

Jack groaned loudly, whining like a child, and stomping his foot on the ground.

            “All right.” She smiled, like the angel she was.

The group followed the young lady of out the room, glad they avoided death by strangulation. When she returned, she found her father laying face first on the couch.

            “Someone’s grumpy.”

            “I have to wait another week?!” Came slightly muffled.

            “Did you _really_ think that this was just a ‘snap of the fingers’ kind of thing?” She snapped her fingers to emphasize her words. “We’re already roller coasting through this thing.”

            “I filled in the papers like three weeks ago!”

            “It usually takes _months_ , dad. But, they were faster because you are _Handsome Jack_.”

            “Not fast enough.”

Angel rolled her eyes, and planted her butt on her father’s butt. She received a groan of protest in return, but ignored it. “It gives you time to learn patience, because you’re going to need it.”

            “Rhys is a good kid.”

            “I think you’re underestimating all this.” She lied down on him, back to back. “I mean, from what you told me… It looks like this’ll be a challenge.”

            “Rhys. Is a good kid.” The man mumbled.

\---

When the week passed, and the fateful day arrived, Jack _dragged_ his daughter through the space station. She could keep up though, inheriting that wonderful ‘long legs’ gene from both parents.

The glass sliding doors to the hospital didn’t part fast enough, causing the father to promptly walk into them.

Angel laughed, quickly covering her grin due to small shyness. She pulled her hand free so that the man could rub his aching nose with both hands. She walked past him, and up to the nearest doctor, or nurse.

            “Hi.” She said to a little blonde lady. A nurse, and quite young.

With a big smile, one that was actually genuine, she turned to him. “Hi.” She echoed.

            “I’m Angel Lawrence. My dad’s, uhm. He’s over there.” She pointed at the CEO, whom was pinching the bridge of his nose to stop the bleeding. “We’re here to pick up Rhys?”

The nurse watched Jack with arched brows, and an amused grin. “You’ll keep him safe, won’t you?”

            “Promise.”

            “I’ll bring you to him once that bloody nose is under control; don’t want to scare the kid on the first day, right?”

            “Agreed, uhm…” She looked down at the pass that hung around the lady’s neck. “Christa.”

The nurse walked past her, and pulled a tissue out of her, obviously hand sewn on, large coat pocket. She motioned for the tall man to lower his head for a bit, and pinched the soft part of the nose, below the nose bridge, with the tissue.

            “Shouldn’t I be leaning back…?” The man mumbled, finding difficulty in maintaining a threatening voice. He sounded a little nasal.

            “If you want to possibly gag on blood, _sure_. Knock yourself out.” She paused. “Not literally.”

They stood like that for a good ten minutes, no matter how much the CEO tried to struggle free. Christa would kick his shin, or stomp down on his toe to keep him in place.

Angel watched with amusement, staying nearby just in case her father tried to strangle her. So far, so good, though.

The young nurse removed the tissue, looking at it with an overdramatic, disgusted face. She threw it in a waste bin, inspecting her hands for any blood. She washed them, and returned. “Okay. Are you ready?”

            “I’ve been ready for three weeks, cupcake!” Jack clapped his hands, throwing angry thoughts about the nosebleeds away.

            “Good. Rhys was _very_ confused this morning, as usual. We tried our best to explain him the situation, and he seems to _kind of_ get it? He’s excited to see dad, so we’re happy with it.”

The CEO suppressed his giddy laugh, deciding to show a big grin instead.

Christa rolled her eyes, and guided them to the kid’s room.

 

Rhys was swinging his legs as he sat on the edge of his bed. With a big eye, he kept his focus on the doorway. _He was going home_. The kid would flinch, and look up every time someone walked past his door, hoping that it would be his family, but they never were. That continued until a slightly familiar nurse brought in a weird man with a mask on his face, and a woman with a lot of tattoos on her arm. They looked cool.

Jack was excited to see the kid again after two weeks. He quickly walked to him, and looked at him with expectant eyes.

Rhys looked back, a little unsure.

            “Rhys.” The nurse started, stepping up beside the man. “This is Jack, he’s your…”

            “Dad?!” The kid’s face immediately lit up with a big smile.

 _Not gonna cry, not gonna cry, not crying. No._ The CEO kneeled down. “Hey there, kiddo. Do you remember me?”

Rhys shook his head. “Should I?” He looked sad.

            “It’s fine, don’t worry.” He tried to smile, but it ended up being a grin. So, well. You’re going home with me.” He looked over his shoulder. “That is your big sister. Her name is Angel.”

Angel waved, staying at the doorframe.

The kid gasped, leaning in. He tugged Jack’s head to the side, and whispered in his ear: “She’s _so_ pretty…”

The man whispered back. “I _know_ , she takes after me.”

‘Whispering’ may not have been the right word to describe their voice volume. Angel stared at them from the doorway, hearing every single word.

Christa stood next to her, looking her up, and down. “You _are_ pretty, though. They’re right.”

The teenager flushed a bright red, quickly turning away. She heard the young nurse laugh, but it didn’t sound mocking. Just kind. She looked at her new brother out of the corner of her eye. He was excitedly talking with his new father.

            “Look! Look!” Rhys shoved the small, and pink rabbit plush in the man’s face.

            “It’s Carrot!”

            “Yeah!” He paused. “You know Carrot?”

            “Of course I do, kiddo! We’re like _best friends_.” He took the small plush, and started toying with the little feet. “You taught me that, remember?”

A frown found itself on the small, round face, the kid trying his best to remember. He eventually shook his head.

Jack was quick to wipe away the silence, setting the plush on the bed, and lifting the kid up. He heard the kid squeal a little, and felt a small arm wrap around his neck. “Let’s go home, yeah?”

            “Yeah!” Rhys cheered.

            “Angel, can you grab his stuff?”

One small part of the teenager wanted to protest. She was _not_ a mule, but… She knew damn well why it would be best to just grab the stuff. Jack didn’t want to upset the little thing, and was trying his best to keep him distracted. She grabbed the belongings, nodded to the nurse, and followed after the CEO of Hyperion.

\---

Rhys was running around his room, placing his belongings where he thought they should be. Jack sat on his bed, keeping a watchful eye.

Angel sat on the couch in the living room, using her ECHO to call her friend Gaige.

            “ _You just went along to get out of school, didn’t you?_ ” Came her voice over the comm.

            “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She feigned innocence.

            _“Is he cute?”_

            “Sure, I guess? I wonder if it’s going to _stay_ easy like this, though.”

            _“What do you mean?”_

            “Kid has memory issues, and a _shitton—_ ”

            “ANGEL!” Came from the bedroom.

            “ _A lot_ of medication.”

            _“If you need a break, then you’re welcome here!”_

            “You’re my favourite person, Gaige.”

            _“I know.”_

 

Rhys pattered back over to the bed, finally satisfied with how his room looked. He climbed in his new father’s lap, and patted his face. “Why do you wear a mask?”

            “Because my true beauty is too much for most people.” Jack lied with a smile.

The kid looked sceptical, mainly because he was unsure of what to make from the man’s tone, and expression.

            “Are you hungry, kiddo?”

            “Starving!”

            “So dramatic.”

Rhys laughed, jumping back down on the ground. He hurried out of room, and looked left and right. Eventually, he decided to go left, since he thought that room was more logical to contain food.

Angel watched him run by, disappearing into the kitchen. She could still see his hair, sticking out in all directions, above the countertops. A few seconds later, she watched her father run by, and into the kitchen.

            “No, no, no, no, no! Rhysie! You can’t! Give me the knife.”

            “Need help?” She called.

            “’s fine!” Jack placed a small, plastic butter knife on the counter. “He’s safe!”

            “I don’t think he was in any danger to begin with…” The teenager mumbled to herself, before returning to texting her friends.

Rhys was, somewhat, allowed to help making dinner. His tasks contained reading from the cooking book (with great strain, but it was a good exercise), and handing the man non-lethal cooking equipment, like wipes to clean any mess he made. Because, let’s be serious; Jack could make a _spoon_ lethal.

Dinner consisted of pancakes, and a lot of sugar. Ultimately, the new kid decided who got how much. Angel received five pancakes, because “she was very pretty”, and had “cool tattoos”. Jack got four, because “his second face needed to eat as well”. Rhys himself just put one on his plate, and started eating, then another, and another, until there were none left.

At 9pm, the kid was out cold, having grown tired from the constant running around, and eating snacks.

Jack looked at him, watching the little bit of drool escape from the small mouth, and onto his old sweater.

            “You realise what is going to happen tomorrow, right?” His daughter said, keeping her voice soft as to not wake the child. “He’s going to forget about this.”

The man didn’t respond, instead just playing with the auburn hair.

            “Are you even prepared for that?”

            “I am Handsome Jack, honey. I can handle everything. Except foul language.”

            “Yet you use it yourself all the time.”

            “It’s okay when I do it.” He glanced at her. “Not when you do it.”

            “Whatever you say, old man.” Angel sat back in the comfy chair, watching the television. The volume was turned down, forcing her to really focus if she wanted to hear what was being said.

The CEO turned his attention back to the eight-year-old sleeping on his chest. Maybe, he would remember this? It was a pretty good day, after all. He slowly stood up, cradling the kid in his arms.

He pushed the door to the yellow bedroom open with his foot, and quietly placed him in bed. Jack tucked Carrot under Rhys’ remaining arm, and stroked his hair one more time. “Goodnight, champ. See you tomorrow.”

\---

Everything was so soft. So comfortable. He huddled in on himself, not willing to open his eyes, no matter how much the voice urged him to wake up.

            “Rhysie.” It kept saying. “Wake up, kiddo.”

The kid tried pulling the bed sheet over his head with his free arm, but while he thought he was moving it, nothing happened; the sheets remained where they were. He opened his tired eyes, blinking a few times to clear his vision.

Looking up, he looked at the face of an unfamiliar man. It took a moment before realisation dawned on him; there was an intruder in his house! He tossed the gentle wake up out the non-existing window, opting to scream instead.

It was high-pitched, and impossibly loud. Jack recoiled from the bed. Saying that he was _surprised_ would be the understatement of the day.

Angel rushed into the room, toothbrush still in her mouth. “What happened?!” She managed to asked, toothpaste dripping on the expensive, wooden floor. She took one look at the kid’s tear filled eye, and horrid expression, and remembered. Unlike him. She watched as her father tried to calm him down, but Rhys just tried to get away from him.

            “Rhys! Hey! Hey! Calm down, yeah?” Jack tried. “It’s fine, you’re safe.”

            “Where’s my mum?” The child cried.

            “She’s not here, kiddo. But, I’m your dad. Got it?” The CEO kneeled down in front of the child. “We’re family.” The other said nothing. “Over there, with her mouth dripping toothpaste, is your sister. Her name is Angel.”

Rhys wiped at the tear streaks on his cheek, sniffing his snotty nose.

Jack held out his hand. “Come on, cupcake. Let’s get breakfast?”

A step back, and furious shake of the head.

            “Why not?”

            “Dad.” Angel stepped closer. “He has _no clue_ where he is, _or_ if we’re telling the truth. Can’t blame him for being unsure.” She wiped at the white foam on her lips. “I’m going to finish brushing my teeth.”

As the teenager left the room, the kid quickly followed her, clutching his plush against his chest. She entered the bathroom, and spat out the foaming toothpaste. She rinsed with water, and only then noticed the little thing staring at her. “…Hey, Rhys.”

            “Is he _really_ my dad?”

Before answering, Angel dried her lips. She kneeled down in front of him. “Yes, he is. We adopted you yesterday. We ate _a lot_ of pancakes, and you fell asleep on him.”

            “Is he nice?”

            “Sometimes.”

            “…Rude.” Jack whispered to himself, peeking his head around the doorframe.

Rhys turned his head, still a little unsure.

The man stepped into the bathroom, kneeling down again to be on eye height with the child. “Come here, kiddo. Let me look at Carrot.” The last time he mentioned the plush’s name, Rhys instantly took to him. Apparently, if _Carrot_ trusted you, the kid trusted you.

            “You know Carrot…?”

            “Yeah. She our bunny, isn’t she?”

The eight-year-old nodded.

            “She likes it when we play with her feet.”

            “She does!” Was agreed.

The small kid’s stomach growled.

            “I think we should get some breakfast, what do ya say, kiddo?”

            “I’m starving!”

Jack lifted him up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on Tumblr right here: http://junskay.tumblr.com/
> 
> Thanks for reading the chapter, and feel free to comment your thoughts :)


	3. You thought that this would be easy?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am cutting through my writer's block with a blunt knife.

Jack rested his head in hand, heavy bags starting to decorate the skin under his eyes, even through the mask. He watched his new family member reluctantly eat his breakfast, and took a deep breath before putting the small pills near his plate, _again_. “You gotta take your pills, Rhysie.”

            “ _NO_.”

            “You gotta.” Man, he was tired.

            “ _NO!_ ”

            “Rhys…”

            **_“NO!”_** The little thing slammed his hand down on the table, anger clear on his red face.

Angel watched from the other side of the table, silently chewing her bread. This particular scenario was nothing new. She even got used to the morning screams when the kid was woken up.

The man refilled the kid’s glass with water, and set it down in front of him. “You need them to be healthy.”

            “I don’t!” Rhys yelled back, promptly smacking the glass off the table, and shattering it on the floor. “You can’t tell me what to do!”

            “I can. I’m your dad.”

            “No, you’re not! I want my _real_ dad!”

In silence, Jack stood up from the table. “Angel, baby? Can you do me a favour, and make sure he takes his pills? Papa has to take a walk.”

            “That’s your fifth walk today. It’s not even 9am.”

Her father huffed, and left without another word. The front door slammed shut behind him.

Angel looked back at the kid with tear stained cheeks, and angry eyes. “Take your pills.”

            “No!”

            “You’ll get candy if you do.”

That seemed to make him hesitate. “…no.”

            “I’ll buy you a new rabbit plush.”

Still, Rhys refused, this time by just shaking his head. “I want to go home!”

            “You are home. All your stuff is here, isn’t it?” Angel kept her voice soft, and scooted closer to the kid with her chair. “Rhys, you know we mean no harm, right? We’re your family.” She watched him wipe at his tears, and grabbed a napkin to help.

            “Why don’t I remember you then?”

            “Oh, honey.” She sighed. “You just have a really bad memory. The pills will help you remember us. You want that right?”

Rhys nodded, glancing at the shattered glass on the floor. “I made that man angry.”

            “He just wants you to be healthy, and it frustrates him when you refuse.”

            “But, I don’t _like_ taking pills.”

            “ _No one_ does, but it will help you.” She filled her empty glass with water, and placed it near the pills. “You have to take them. You’ll feel better.”

Without a word, the eight-year-old took one pill at a time, making a disgusted face after each one. He looked at the girl that was supposedly his sister, and couldn’t deny feeling a little happy when she smiled at him.

Angel stood up from her chair. “I’m going to get ready for school, okay? Don’t break anything, and… well, just stay in the living room until dad’s back.” She slung her bag over her shoulder, and made way to the door.

            “Is he my dad, too?”

She stopped. “Yes, he is munchkin.”

 

Jack looked up when he heard the front door open. Angel stared at him. “This is ‘taking a walk’?”

            “I…” He cleared his throat. “I didn’t want to yell at him, so I left, but I couldn’t _leave_ leave.”

            “Get back in there, dad. He took his pills.”

            “How?!”

            “I talked to him like a sensible adult, and didn’t just say: ‘take them’.” She rolled her eyes. “What would you be without me.”

Her father grabbed her before she could slip past, and hugged her tightly. “Shut up, Angel.”

            “Like I ever would.” She hugged him back. “Going to school now. Take care.” The girl pushed herself away, and walked towards the elevator.

            “Bye…” When the elevator doors closed, Jack turned back to the front door. “Come on.” He told himself. “You’re a _hero_. You can take care of a kid.” He opened the door.

Rhys had left the dining table, sitting on the couch instead. The glass still lay shattered near the table, and it didn’t look like the kid was stupid enough to touch it. He stared at the man, unmoving.

            “Hey there, kiddo.”

            “…Hi.”

            “So, you took your pills?”

He just nodded, turning his attention to his toes to see them wiggle.

Jack closed the door behind him, and walked to the little thing. He let himself fall down on the couch next to him, not wanting to think about _all the work_ that had piled up by now. He heard the kid squeal, and he snapped his eyes back open in sheer fear that he had fallen off.

Rhys was… very light, and easy to bounce around. “Again!” He practically demanded, staring at his new dad with an almost sparkling eye.

The CEO pushed himself up, and let himself fall back down. Again, Rhys squealed, laughter soon following it. With a grin, the man lifted the kid up as he stood up himself.

The eight-year-old laughed as he was swung from left to right, and up and down.

Eventually, Jack got tired, and rested the kid on his hip. “Feeling a bit better now?”

Rhys hummed, wrapping a small arm around the man’s neck. “Are you really my dad?”

            “I really am your dad.”

            “Awesome.”

            “Damn right, I’m awesome.” He grinned, and hugged the little thing tightly. Ten minutes ago, he would’ve done _anything_ just to get to his office, and engulf himself with work. Now, he simply wanted to keep hugging his second child. Why not both? “Do you want to go to work together with papa? You can draw all day, and be a little shit to my employees.”

            “Yeah!”

\---

Handsome Jack loved several things. One of them was watching his employees wither under his glare.

Rhys took that from him.

The kid was… well he was a kid, and it was difficult to look threatening with an eight-year-old in your lap. Jack could glare all he wanted, but the employees steadfastly kept their eyes on the kid.

Rhys in turn would be very excited to show them his drawings, and the CEO couldn’t stop them, because that would upset the kid.

Right now, Rhys was showing off some weird… squiggles that were meant to be Jack. He pointed at random points on the drawing, and told the employee: “That’s his face. He’s smiling.”

            “Looks great.” The employee would say, a stupid _smile_ on his face. How dare someone smile in Jack’s office? How _dare_ someone feel _safe_ in his office?!

            “And _that’s_ his second face.”

            “You are a wonderful artist.”

Rhys gasped, and whispered: “I know, but thanks.”

Jack groaned, loud, and dramatic. “Stooooop. Oh my god!” He wrapped an arm around the kid, and righted him in his lap. “Speak… erhm… Hank? What’s the dealeo in R&D?”

            “It’s Frank, sir.”

            “I do not care! C’mon, chop chop.” He clapped his hands together.

Hank—Frank—whatever, stammered his way through his presentation, and _boy_ did Jack want to airlock him. “Hey Rhysie, munchkin?”

Rhys looked up at the double nicknames, Angel called him the latter, too. “Yeah?”

            “Can you wait outside for a bit? Daddy has to talk to Hankie there in private.”

The kid hesitated, but jumped off of his lap. “Kay.” He took his drawing, and pencils, and left the office.

 

When the doors closed automatically behind him, Rhys looked around for a moment. Was he supposed to wait _here_? Here didn’t look nice.

The guards stared the short thing down, a hand always at their guns.

            “Are you robots?” Rhys asked.

            “No.” They said in unison.

            “Oh…” Then he got an idea. He wanted to see a robot. A _really big one_.

The guards watched him wander off.

            “Should… Should we do something?”

            “…I don’t know.”

Rhys turned the corner.

            “We should do something.”

            “Probably, yes.”

The two armed men hurried after the little kid, keeping a distance as not to scare him. They watched him pull on a woman’s skirt to get her attention. At first she seemed very displeased, ready to shout ‘sexual harassment’ any moment, but when she looked down, she just smiled. Rhys asked her something, but the guards couldn’t hear what. They watched the woman point at the elevator, and say _something_.

They dared to come a little closer.

            “Kay, thanks!” The eight-year-old said before hurrying to the elevator.

            “H-he probably shouldn’t…”

            “…”

            “Should he?”

The two just followed, stepping in the elevator with the kid.

Rhys didn’t care. Like, he really didn’t. Maybe didn’t even notice them. He stood on his tiptoes to press floor 20.

            “Steven.” One guard whispered. “That’s the robotics department…”

            “I know…” The other whispered back.

They watched the little kid like hawks, making sure he didn’t do _anything_ to hurt himself. These two men remembered a little girl with black hair once, whom also tended to run off. Rather than ushering her back to her father, they just followed her, and kept an eye on her. This _shouldn’t_ be any different.

The elevator gave a cheery ‘ding’, announcing its arrival at a floor. Little Rhys looked at the displayed number, and puffed up his cheeks when it wasn’t floor 20 yet.

A large men stepped inside, hair slick, and greasy, and so _utterly fake_.

Rhys stared at him with a big eye.

The man typed away on his ECHO-comm, well. It _looked_ like typing away, but in truth he was playing Tetris for the umpteenth time today. Eventually, he seemed to notice the stare, and he blessed the kid with a glance. “Hey there, champ.” _Wow_ , it sounded wrong coming from him, wasn’t there a person that had said that before? Rhys couldn’t remember.

            “Hi.” He just replied.

            “Where you headed?”

            “Robots.”

            “Well, you’re going to have to wait then.” He gave a gross grin. “I am heading up to the big office, and I have priority.”

Whoever thought it was necessary to ‘impress’ a child with _priority_ should probably visit a life coach for self-esteem issues.

Rhys stepped up to the buttons, standing on his toes again, and pressed _every single floor to come_. He glanced at the greasy man before pressing a big red button. He was a bitter little thing.

The elevator stopped, groaning, and creaking.

The man just stared at him in utter disbelief. “…What did you do?”

Steven, and his other guard friend stared at the kid, throwing weary glances at the greased man.

            “You _little_ …” His comm went off, an annoying tune sounding through the room. The colour seemed to drain from his face when he read the name, and pressed the green button.

            _“Where the fuck are you?! I wanted you in my office five minutes ago!”_

            “Naughty word.” Rhys gasped.

            “I-I’m soo sorry, there is this _kid!_ ” The man glared at the child. “He broke the elevator like an idiot!”

            “I’m not an idiot!”

The person on the comm was silent for a moment. _“…Is that Rhys?”_

            “I don’t know!”

            _“Show me the kid, asshole!”_

The man turned the screen side of the device to the little kid.

            _“Rhys, what are you doing there?!”_

            “Hi… _dad_.”

If that greasy, greasy man could pale more, he would have. He stared at the child, and then looked over his shoulder at the two guards.

            _“What are you doing there, kiddo? I thought I told you to wait.”_

            “I wanted to see robots.” Rhys smiled, looking so excited.

            _“…Okay.”_ Jack didn’t know what to say. _“Just, get back to my office. You know where that is right? Highest floor. We’ll go see the robots together.”_

            “Kay!”

The man turned the ECHO-comm back to himself. “S-sir Handsome Jack, sir? How do we get the elevator restarted?”

            _“What did he do? Press the red button?”_

            “Yes.”

            _“Press it again, should be fine. Now hurry up.”_ Jack kept himself from using curse words, now knowing that his son was there, too.

Rhys pressed the button again, and the elevator slowly stared moving, and stopping. On. Every. Goddamn. Floor. From floor 24 tot 44.

 

Jack waited in front of the elevator, stance equally terrifying as concerning. It seemed like he couldn’t decide on an expression, and kept going from _seething_ to _I hope my idiot forgetful son is okay_.

When the doors finally parted, and little Rhys stepped out, the father quickly scooped him up in his arms.

The greasy man was hesitant to step out, but the guards gladly helped him by pushing him forward. He stumbled, but managed to right himself before falling.

            “You can’t just _wander_ _off_ , Rhysie. You had me scared there.”

            “The robot men were with me.” Rhys pointed at the guards, and then whispered: “They _thought_ I didn’t notice, but I did, because I’m _smart_.”

            “You’re so smart.”

            “The smartest.”

Jack kissed the kid’s cheek, and then blew a raspberry on the pale skin which caused him to squeal and struggle.

The man with _priority_ cleared his throat, unsure what to do.

The CEO looked at him, righting Rhys on his hip. “Oh, yeah. My appointment. Huh. What was your name again?”

            “Vasquez. _Hugo_ Vasquez.”

            “ _Wow_ , even your name sounds greasy. Well. Appointment _cancelled_ , Hugo! So, uh, go back to whatever you were doing.”

            “Like playing Tetris on his ECHO-comm.” Steven mumbled, causing the other guard to snort a laugh.

            “B-but sir!”

            “No! Got something far more important to do.”

The eight-year-old looked at Hugo, and then proceeded to stick his tongue out.

 

            “They’re so big!” Rhys pulled at his father’s hand, trying to walk faster. “Look! Look!” He pointed at an average looking loader bot. “So big!”

Jack was ‘pulled’ towards the loader bot, and he watched with weary eyes as his son poked at it.

The loader bot seemed to look down. **“HI. LITTLE HUMAN.”**

            “Hi!”

            **“ARE YOU IN NEED OF ASSISTANCE?”**

Rhys looked at Jack. “Am I?”

            “No, not really.”

            “What are they made of?” The kid patted away at the body.

Jack kneeled down next to him, and explained _everything_ he could about the robots. From what they were made of, to how they were programmed, and how they were absolutely _awesome_.

 

Angel was already home when the two returned. She could hear them still talking about robots, and how Jack was going to make a robot friend for Rhys. She glanced over the top of her magazine to see them enter the penthouse. “Hey dad.”

            “Hey Angel.” The CEO had his son on his shoulders, and had to bend his knees so no one would bump their head. “How was school?”

            “S’good. Work?”

            “S’good.”

She gave a thumbs up, and returned to reading her magazine.

As usual, for Jack, and Angel at least, Rhys ‘helped’ with the cooking of dinner. He had been upgraded to being allowed to hand over pots, and pans. Over the course of the days, Jack figured out that he had a steady enough grip to be trusted with that.

During dinner Rhys told them all about how greasy, and gross Hugo Vasquez was, and how _cool_ the loader bot was.

At 9pm, the kid was all tuckered out. Sleeping on the couch as he hugged his pink rabbit plush to his chest. Angel offered to take him to bed, seeing as her dad was on the verge of falling asleep as well.

She lifted the child up, and brought him to bed. It pained her to know what was going happen tomorrow, just like it did every day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on Tumblr, right here: junskay.tumblr.com  
> Feel free to comment your thoughts, and hopes for the upcoming chapters, and I hope you enjoyed this one


	4. Snazzy Jazzy Days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a-dooby-doo

The kid stared at the upside down cards on the table. He slowly reached out to the one in the centre, and flipped it right side up.

A little lion was hand drawn on it. He didn’t know by who, but he liked it. The animal sat on its butt, tail in its mouth.

Rhys brought his thumb to his lips, and started chewing, staring at the rest of the cards.

Somewhere, there was an identical card to this one. _Somewhere_. He had been shown about thirty seconds ago.

            “If you don’t know, then –.”

The eight-year-old slammed his hand down on the card in the top left corner.

The young therapist stared at the kid as he slowly turned the card around.

A mouse.

It was silent in the room for a while. Neither spoke, and the therapist waited with writing his answer down. This wasn’t the first time he had displayed this memory game to the child, but there was just no sign of improvement. The other lion was… on the other side of the table. The man counted the seconds before Rhys would give his standard reply.

            “You change them when I’m not looking!” He said that every time they played this game.

            “You’re always looking, Rhys. I didn’t change anything.”

Rhys started upturning the other cards, eventually finding the second lion. He stuck out his bottom lip, and gave his therapist the angry look.

            “At the beginning of this session, like every other one we’ve had, I told you my name. Do you remember that?”

            “…” The thumb was brought back to his lips, and he started chewing again. It had become a clear sign that he was thinking, but almost positive that he didn’t know. If he was thinking, and _did know_ , then he tended to stare off in the distance with a frown.

            “It’s Vaughn.”

            “Kay…”

            “Who’s your father, Rhys?”

The kid shrugged, staring down at the board.

            “You don’t know?” Vaughn adjusted his sitting position, uncrossing his legs. “Then who brought you here? Wasn’t that your dad?”

            “I don’t know…” He was starting to get upset, not liking this conversation one bit. Then again, he hated all conversations that required him to remember anything.

            “That was your dad. His name is Jack.” The therapist started cleaning up the cards from the table. “Do you want to draw something?”

The eight-year-old just nodded, holding his hand out to receive a pencil.

Once the child was concentrated on drawing, Vaughn stood up from his chair, and left the room. He neatly closed the door behind him, and searched the waiting room for the father.

Jack was busy on his ECHO-comm, not even noticing that the therapy session had ended.

            “Handsome Jack, sir?” The little man walked to him.

The CEO paused his ministrations, and looked up. “Improvement?”

            “None, sir. But, I think I may know a solution.”

The comm was put down, and the man gave the therapist his full attention.

            “Constant stimulation, sir. He only visits me once every two weeks. When he’s here we play memory games, and sometimes there _is_ a sign of improvement throughout the session. I want you to play memory games with him at home. _Every_ _single_ _day_.”

            “And that will work?”

            “It’s worth a try, isn’t it?” Vaughn smiled.

            “Mkay, sooo memory games. Like what?”

            “There are so many out there! We play memory cards a lot, but also have him remembering sequences. If you visit a toy store, they’ll undoubtedly have memory games for him.”

            “I’ll do some research.” Jack stood up from his seat. “Anything else?”

            “Perhaps have him write about his day at the end of it all, right before he goes to sleep. At this point we should just try everything to keep his brain stimulated.”

The father nodded. “Did… Did he remember that I am father today?”

            “No, sir.”

 

            “I’m _sure_ that he moved the lion.” Rhys pouted, swinging from Jack’s hand.

            “He does seem like someone that would do that…” The man grinned down at him.

Despite the morning screams, and all the tantrums, the kid still displayed trust after a while, seeming to just _accept_ the situation.

They were on their way to the biggest, and only, toy store on Helios. Hyperion issued, of course. Rhys was excited to get some new toys, as Jack had conveniently left out that it was to boost his memory.

As the two entered the store, and the child ran off to find whatever he wanted, Jack’s ringing comm stopped him in his tracks. “Swear to fucking…” He grumbled as he picked it up. “What?!”

            _“Dad!”_

            “Oh. Angel. Sorry, I thought you were a squirmy little employee.”

            _“Check the name before you pick up the phone.”_

            “Mhm…”

_“Child services is here.”_

            “What? Why? They’re not scheduled for today!”

            _“Yes, they are! It’s the twenty-fourth!”_

Jack groaned. “Gimme ten minutes.” He turned on his heel, and hurried to the elevator. He pressed the ‘up’ button roughly fifty times, just continuing until the damned thing arrived.

 

Angel set down a cup of tea for the social services man, an invisible, nervous, drop of sweat rolling down her neck. “Anything else, sir?”

The man stared at her. His hair was slicked over the bald spot on his head, and his moustache was… well… _horrendous_ was an appropriate word. His skin looked oily, and the suit he was wearing was just _a_ _bit_ too tight. “Where is the child?”

            “He’s on his way up here from his therapy session.” She smiled, ever the polite girl. “My father said it would be ten minutes.”

The man noted something down in the little black notebook that he rested on his knee.

_Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, dad hurry up,_ was all that bothered Angel’s mind.

The door opened, almost slamming into the wall. “I’m here!” Came the panting voice from Handsome Jack. He was doing _a lot_ more running than he wanted to lately. “I’m here.”

Social services looked up. “Where is the child?”

The CEO looked around himself. “He’s…” _Shit_.

            “Have a seat, sir. I think we need to have a chat.” He gave a sickening, wry grin. “I have some concerns.”

            “But…” Handsome Jack does not stutter, and he does not get cut off.

            “No, ‘but’s, sir.” He turned to the man’s daughter. “Go fetch your brother, girl.”

            “I don’t know where he is.”

            “We were at the toy store…” Jack folded his arms, cocking his weight to his left hip.

Angel just nodded, and hurried out of the door, slamming it shut behind her.

            “Have a seat.” The man nodded to the chair nearby.

 

Rhys stood proudly in front of his small mountain of toys. In his arm he held a robot building kit, titled: _build-a-friend_. He looked around, waiting for Jack to come admire his found toys. But, the man never came.

The eight-year-old sat down on the floor, keeping the robot box on his lap. He tapped a rhythm on it, waiting.

            “ _Rhys!_ ”

Rhys looked up to the sound of his name. He squinted at the sight of the girl, what was her name again? “Angel?”

            “Hey there, munchkin.” She said, coming to a stop near him. “Come on, we gotta go home.”

The kid looked at the pile of toys behind him, and to the robot kit in his lap. “But, my toys?”

            “We’ll get them another time, all right?” The teenager kneeled down next to him. “It’s very important that we go home now. We’ll come back as soon as we can. Yeah?”

Rhys seemed to think for a while. “Yeah…” He patted the box.

Angel looked at what was probably his favourite chosen toy. “I’m sorry, Rhys. We’ll definitely come back. I promise.”

            “Pinkie promise?” He looked at her, holding out his pinkie to take.

            “Pinkie promise.” She took his pinkie in her own, and shook on it.

Rhys set the box on the ground, and pushed himself up. He took his big sister’s hand, and followed her out of the store.

An employee watched them leave, then turned his attention to the rather _large_ pile of toys. He dared to glance at the clock. Five more minutes, and he’d be free from work. He didn’t have to clean that up.

            “Clean that mess up, Peterson.” His supervisor said, walking past him. “Don’t pay you to do nothing!”

Peterson sighed, cursing his severely underpaid job, and made way to the utter mess.

 

Angel came to a stop in front of the door, listening for any sounds. There wasn’t any yelling. Good. She put her hand on the door handle.

            “ _I **AM** RESPONSIBLE!”_

She removed her hand from the door handle.

Rhys looked up at her. “Aren’t we going inside?”

            “Not yet, munchkin.”

            “ _YOU FORGOT THE BOY AT A STORE!”_

Angel knelt down, and covered the kid’s ears. He just let it happen, staring down at his feet.

            _“YOU SHOWED UP OUT OF NOWHERE, ASSHOLE!”_

            _“WE HAD AN APPOINTMENT!”_

            _“SO, I FORGOT! BIG DEAL! HE’S HEALTHY!”_

The teenager wasn’t sure what to do. Wait it out, or barge in to shut the idiots up. She looked at her brother. She was ready to stand up, but halted when a crash sounded, followed by breaking glass.

            _“THIS IS NOT A GOOD ENVIRONMENT FOR A CHILD!”_

Angel quickly stood up, and pushed the door open. She pulled Rhys along, staring at the scene.

Jack looked over his shoulder. “…Angel, baby?”

            “…Yes?”

            “Daddy has to _take care_ of _something_. Can you take Rhys on a little trip for me?”

The man from social services clearly flinched, fear finally nipping at his heels. He tried to keep telling himself that he should treat this man as a normal father, _but this was still Handsome Jack_. “Y-y-y-y-you know what?” He managed to stammer, accidentally dropping his notebook, and picking it back up. “W-w-we’ll make a _new appointment_.” He managed to laugh. “And we’ll f-f-forget this one.”

Jack stared at the man he deemed utter _filth_ , and then he looked back at his children.

Rhys looked at him, his hand locked with Angel’s.

He took a deep breath, and sighed it back out. “We’ll make a new appointment. I’ll have Meg contact you. Leave.”

The man scurried past everyone, all but _running_ to the elevator.

            “Not a good meeting?”

            “Nope.” Jack turned to them, and smiled down at the youngest. “Hey there, kiddo!”

            “Hi!” Rhys let go of Angel’s hand, and moved forward to stand close to his father for a hug.

The CEO understood, and lifted the kid up. He rested him on his hip. “Want a snack?”

            “Yes!”

            “Yay!” The man cheered, hurrying to the kitchen.

Angel watched them, just hoping that he wasn’t going to kill the social services man regardless. She turned her attention to the papers on the table, and arched her brows. “Oh?”

 

_Date of birth: 27 April, 2XXX_

 

She glanced over to her father. He knew, right? The papers were right there, and they obviously looked through it!

            “Let’s sing the snack song, Rhysie!” It wasn’t as much of a song, as just continuously repeating the word ‘snacks’ in a jazzy rhythm followed by an occasional ‘a-dooby-doo’.

It never failed to surprise Angel just how easy it was for her father to switch moods. She watched the idiot gather far too many snacks, and spread them out over the counter.

            “Whatcha want, Rhysie? Pretzels are mine.”

The child wriggled in his grip, almost contorting his small body before pointing at the pink mini cakes. “That.”

            “Angel, what do you want?!” Jack called from the kitchen.

            “I live a healthy lifestyle, father. I do not need your soiling snacks!”

            “Sooo… You want jellybeans?”

            “Yes, I want jellybeans.”

A bag of jellybeans was tossed her way, effectively hitting her in the face, and falling into her lap. “Thee did hurt me!”

            “Thee didn't standeth a chance 'gainst mine own pow'rful throws!”

            “I hate you so much.” The teenager opened the bag of candy with a grin.

            “I love you, too, Angel!” Jack said as he handed Rhys his pink mini cake.

The kid stared at the wrapped snack, and pressed it against the side of his father’s face.

            “Oh, yeah. Forgot about that for moment.” The man said. He walked over to the couch, promptly dropping Rhys on it before taking the cake from his hand. He ripped the package, and handed it back, sitting down himself. He breathed a sigh of relief when he put the first pretzel in his mouth.

            “Rhys’ birthday is coming up.” Angel stated.

            “Four more days, counting this one.” The CEO ruffled the kid’s hair.

Rhys tried to dodge to hand, but had nowhere to escape to. He groaned, steadfastly continuing to eat his cake.

The teenager turned the television on, zapping through the shitty programs before deciding on a poorly acted out version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

\---

Angel kept her pillow tightly over her head, trying to muffle the screaming, and yelling that occurred every morning. She loved the kid, really did, except for in the mornings. It was a little demon then. Not that it was his fault…

Today was the twenty-seventh, and it was supposed to be a happy day, but the kid just didn’t know it yet.

Footsteps, tiny ones, pattered through the hallway, past her door. They were followed by larger ones, and a booming _“RHYS!”_.

The teenager forced herself to sit up in bed, eyeing the digital clock in her room.

9AM.

She grabbed her comm, and started texting Gaige. _“They’re at it again.”_ While waiting for a reply, she dressed herself into something that was somewhat acceptable for a Saturday.

_“It is morning, isn’t it? It’ll be fine in an hour. It always is :))”_ Her comm lit up, displaying the text.

_“Still. I don’t appreciate being woken up by screaming. Can you come over today?”_

_“Sure! Does 2 sound nice?”_

_“Sounds great.”_

Angel opened the door, and stepped out of her bedroom. She looked to her right, into the living room.

Jack was sitting on the floor to be on eyelevel with Rhys. He used his quiet voice as he explained the situation. He held the kid’s hand throughout. The man wiped at the tears staining the child’s cheek, and offered small smiles.

Rhys nodded on occasion.

            “It’s your birthday today, kiddo.”

            “R-really?”

            “Yes! We’ve got _cake_ , and _presents_.” Jack waggled his eyebrows which earned him a laugh from the child. “Which do you want first?”

            “Presents!”

Of course.

Angel stepped into the living room, unable to supress a yawn. “Hey munchkin.” She decided to act as if her brother _didn’t_ suffer from severe memory loss. He looked confused. “I’m your sister.”

            “Oh!”

            “I’m Angel.”

            “You’re very pretty.”

He said that every day. “Thank you, Rhys.”

The kid hurried off after Jack, whom had disappeared into his workroom. She could hear him squeal, probably a reaction to the horrendously enormous pile of presents.

The CEO laughed, turning that ‘probably’ into a ‘definitely’. “Get on the couch Rhyscakes. I’ll bring you the presents.”

The kid ran back out of the room, and launched himself onto the couch.

Angel stared at him, starting to see the smallest details of her father’s behaviour in the kid. He changed moods quickly, and the tears that had been shed mere minutes ago were nowhere to be found. Sometimes, she could swear she saw some of her own quirks in the kid as well, and she loved it.

            “Hand on your eye, kiddo!”

Rhys slapped his hand over his eye with the biggest smile.

Jack walked out of the workroom, trying to see where he was going through the pile of presents in his arms. He staggered a few times, but safely made it to the couch.

            “Are those all of them?”

            “No, there is one more, but that is the _grand finale_.” He splayed the presents across the floor. “Mkay, you can look.”

The now nine-year-old removed his hand from his eye, and slid from the couch to sit between the presents.

It didn’t take long for Jack to reveal a camera, that looked tiny in his hands, and start taking pictures.

            “Finally gave in to your parental desires?”

            “Embarrassing pictures of you suggest that I have done so before.” He mumbled with a grin.

            “Oh my god.”

Rhys started ripping away at the presents, revealing plushies, clothes, memory games, books, and more. He finally reached the last present, which was a diary.

            “Angel got that for you.” The father said.

The diary was purple, and sparkly, and a white horse seemingly made of _diamonds_ stood on the cover.

            “I love it so much.” Rhys whispered, opening it up.

            “You gotta use it every day, kiddo. Write down what happened, and then we can look at those moments whenever we want.” Jack sat down next to the kid, ruffling his hair. “We’ll use my amazing photographs, too.”

            “Yeah!”

            “Angel? Will you do the honours with the last present?”

            “Gladly.” She said with a posh voice, and upturned nose to amuse them.

The last present was rather large in comparison to the others, and heavy. It was _so much_ better than that stupid ‘build-a-friend’, because when the wrapping paper was torn off, it revealed the handwritten letters of ‘build-a-pal’. It looked suspiciously like Jack’s.

Rhys was awestruck, staring at the box that had a hand drawn robot on it.

            “Happy birthday, kiddo.” Jack hugged him tightly.

 

_27 April, 2XXX_

_Today was my birthday. It was ~~graet~~ great. Dad ate a lot of cake, and ~~vom vum fom~~ ~~vomitted~~ vomited. Angel took pictures. They say I’m going to school soon. I love my family._

_\- Rhys_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this chapter.  
> Find me on Tumblr right over here: junskay.tumblr.com  
> You can ask me stuff if you want over there.  
> Feel free to comment, they give me energy to write more!


	5. I Know It's Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took so damn long to update this. I haven't been feeling great in the past few days, so I mostly lied in bed, staring at the ceiling.  
> Anyway, I hope you keep enjoying the story!

“If anyone. Rhys. Rhys, look at me.” Jack was trying to keep the giddy child’s attention on him. “If _anyone_ is an ass; you kick them. Right in the _dick_.”

            “Don’t teach him violence, dad.” Angel said.

It was Rhys’ first day of school. It was 8:15 am, and Jack was giving him a pep talk, though that pep talk might also have been for himself. The kid had a bright yellow backpack slung over one shoulder, and his favourite diary clutched to his chest. His father had shoved it in his hand, and told him to read the passages. Rhys had decided to keep it close, and write everything down.

            “Violence is _okay_ if it’s in self-defence, princess.”

            “Can I go yet?” The nine-year-old was getting impatient, and tried to _subtly_ move towards the door.

            “No, Rhysie. Repeat after me. ‘If anyone is an ass, I’ll kick their dicks.’.”

            “Don’t repeat that, Rhys. Please.”

            “Okay, Angel.” He smiled a bright one.

            “Thee trait'r…” Jack grumbled at his daughter.

The teenager just rolled her eyes, and took her brother by his hand. “We’re off.”

            “Nooo.” The CEO wrapped his arms around the youngest, and pulled the yelping, struggling kid in for a tight hug. “He’s not ready!”

            “He or _you_?”

Jack kissed the kid’s messy hair, no matter how much he protested. Eventually, Rhys gave in, and let it happen.

            “He’s has to be there at 8:30, we have to go if he wants to be on time!”

            “I wanna be on time!” The nine-year-old started struggling again, and pulled himself free.

            “Come on then, munchkin.” Angel held out her hand, and smiled when it was taken. “Again, dad. _We’re off_.”

Jack stood, folding his arms. His foot was tapping impatiently on his expensive floor, thinking that he _kind of_ wanted to come along.

He was going to come along.

            “I’m grabbing my coat. Wait for me.”

            “ _Oh my god_.” The teenager rubbed her eyes in agitation. She remembered this from her own first school day. He ended up staying in the class, throughout the _entire_ day, and glaring at the teacher. She didn’t want that to happen to her baby brother.

 

Parents cowered away, shielding their kids with their bodies from the most feared man on all of Helios, and maybe even of the entire universe.

Said fearful man was holding Rhys’ hand, having pushed Angel to the side a while ago. He had a deep scowl on his face, even though he happily swung his arm to amuse the kid.

They turned corners, finally reaching the classroom door.

Rhys started bouncing, a big smile on his small face. He just wanted to _run_ inside, but his father’s hand was tightly holding his.

The large man kneeled down, and righted the kid’s clothes with a stern eye. “Remember what I said, pumpkin. It’s okay to use self-defence.”

            “Mhm.”

            “Hit them with your bag if you have to.”

The child just nodded, even though he wasn’t planning on doing any of that. He watched his father continue to adjust his clothes, and he glanced up towards Angel. She gave him a reassuring smile, and a thumbs up, so he smiled back. After several minutes passed, a tall man stepped out of the classroom.

Rhys looked up with curious eyes, craning his head backwards.

The man had blond hair, and a beard, fair skin, and a nose piercing that matched his blue eyes. His brows were arched as he watched the display, and slowly turned his attention to the father.

Handsome Jack quickly rose to his full height, and folded his arms. “ **So**.” He started, leaning in to _smell_ the fear. “ _You’re_ the teacher.”

            “Y-yes, sir Handsome Jack sir. I’m August.”

            “Great.” There was a hint of sarcasm. “Listen up kiddo, my smaller kiddo is new to school, and if anything happens, I _swear_ to fuck—.”

Rhys gasped.

            “Swear to _frick,_ I _will_ hurt you.”

            “R-right. Okay. _Duly noted_.” The teacher gave a smile, and turned to the child. “Okay! Are you ready for class?”

            “Yeah!”

            “Are you sure, Rhysie? We can try again another time.” Jack tried.

            “Stop. Dad. Please.” Angel stared at him with an expressionless face.

            “I’ll go! I’m old enough!”

            “Oookaaaay…” The CEO sighed, throwing another glare to unnerve the teacher. “Fine. Let’s go, Angel.”

            “Aye aye, captain.” She saluted, ruffled her brother’s hair, and followed her father away from the classroom. She tried to prevent him from constantly looking back, but he just snapped at her hand, trying to bite.

August let Rhys into the classroom, where most children were already seated. He took the kid to the front of the class, and introduced him, kindly leaving out who his father was. “Everyone. This is Rhys, he’ll be in our class from now on.”

Rhys gave a big smile, clutching his diary tightly to his chest.

            “He’s missing an arm!” A child, too young to understand that that is not something to point out, yelled.

The kid looked at where his other arm should be, but remained silent. The smile slowly faded from his face.

            “Now. Now. That is not so… unusual!” August tried.

            “Yeah.” A girl quipped. “Teach is right, Marty is missing a _brain_.” When she received a glare from her classmate, she just tipped her hat.

The teacher sighed, and kneeled down to be on eyelevel with the new kid. “Now. Uhm, _Rhys_. Don’t let them get to you. Still young, yeah? So…” Sometimes he really doubted whether he should teach such young children. Even after all these years, he still thought it was difficult to communicate with them. “Go sit on the empty seat.”

For a moment, Rhys just stared at him, then he nodded. He took his seat, and placed his diary on the table. He circled the diamond horse on the cover with his finger.

            “Cool diary.” The girl next to him whispered.

The kid looked at her, instantly feeling a smile creep up his face.

The girl had a rich dark skin, which seemed to glow ever so slightly in the artificial sunlight that shone through the windows. She had light green eyes which contrasted beautifully with her dark dreadlocks.

            “Thanks.”

            “I’m Sasha.” She reached out to pat at the diary, and Rhys let her while keeping a close eye on her hand.

            “Rhys.” He took her hand, and removed it from his diary when he decided she had touched it for too long.

 

The day seemed to fly by. Before the kid even noticed it, it was thirty minutes until he could go home. He was listening to their teacher explaining a little field trip to one of the new parks on Helios. August handed out permission slips to be signed by the caretakers, and allowed them to leave a little early.

Sasha was quick to turn to her new tablemate. “Rhys! Do you want to come to my house? I have the coolest toys!”

            “Uhm…” Rhys hesitated. “I don’t know…”

            “Come on! It’ll be great!” The young girl bounced on her chair with a big smile, excitement clear on her face.

            “Sasha, don’t scare him.” It was the clever girl, the one that called out the no-brainer from before. She tipped her hat at Rhys, following after her father’s example. She was obsessed with the headwear, and it was worn down to a faded white with holes and scratches as decoration. “Hi.” She held out her hand, straightening her back to appear taller. “I’m Fiona, Sasha’s sister.”

            “You don’t really look alike…” The kid searched her face. “Except for your eyes! So green…”

Fiona just smiled down at him. “So, are you coming with us, or…?”

            “I don’t think my dad will like it if I disappear.”

            “Disappearing is the fun part!” Sasha exclaimed. “It’ll be like hide and seek.”

They were a bad influence.

            “Okay!” Rhys grabbed his diary, and put it safely in his bag. He followed after the two girls without a care in the world.

 

A group of guards was on their well-deserved break of the day. A few threw some annoyed glances at the passing children whom were laughing a little too loudly. One guard however, noticed something.

            “Steven…” He tapped another guard’s shoulder.

            “What?” Steven turned to look, quickly catching sight of the son of Handsome _goddamn_ Jack. Unsupervised. He sighed. “We should do something.”

            “I agree.”

            “Same as usual?”

            “Yes.”

They left their group of friends, for how much you could call Hyperion people ‘friends’, and followed the nine-year-old.

            “Kid apparently went to school today.”

            “Really? Jack let him?” Steven arched his brows underneath his helmet.

            “With some _gentle_ persuasion.”

            “Aaah, little miss Angel, huh? She grew up so fast…”

The other guard made an affirmative sound, keeping his eyes locked on the back of the kid’s head. The two halted when he turned to look.

Rhys’ face was blank for a few moments, no memories resurfacing. Then, he slowly arched his brows in curiosity. ‘Robots’ He mouthed. He looked back, and forth between his classmates, and the guards, unable to decide what he wanted to do.

            “Rhys? What are you doing?” Sasha took his hand. “Come on!”

Steven turned to his partner. “Does it count as a kidnapping, if the kidnapper is a kid, Terence?”

            “I don’t think nine-year-olds are capable of kidnapping, Steven.”

The other snorted, and mumbled something. “They may be _ten_ for all you know.” He watched the kid being pulled along. “We should probably notify Jack? Maybe?”

            “…Maybe.”

 

Jack stared at the locked door of the classroom, unable to think of the right facial expression to be used at the moment. He had come ten minutes early, to be sure that little Rhys would be fine. The room was dark, no signs of life aside from the stupid potted plants, which were probably fake, so still. No signs of life, and if there was it would have been ended _very_ soon. His fingers twitched with urge to wrap around someone’s scrawny little neck, but the thought was pushed aside by the vibration of his ECHO-comm. He brought the device to his face, almost looming over it. “ **What**?” He snarled at the little screen.

            _“You say it.”_

_“No you.”_

_“Shut up, you do it!”_

The two guards continued to argue with each other, which _did not_ help Jack’s temper.

            “WHAT IS GOING ON?!” He yelled.

            _“W-we were wondering, sir. If you were aware of…”_ Steven cleared his throat, and shoved the comm in Terence’s hands.

            _“You asshole_ …” The guard whispered _. “Sir. Is your son supposed to be having a play date… or no?”_

            “A play date?” Jack stared at the screen, mouthing the words again.

            _“We’re currently still following him, sir, but we felt we should notify you…”_

            “Give me his location, you idiots!”

            _“…They’re heading to the Eastern apartment complex, sir. We’re following, and will give you more information when we get it.”_

            “At least you’re not _completely_ useless…” Jack mumbled, making way to the given location.

 

Rhys put his bag in the corner, and hurried after his two new friends to their living room.

            “Dad!” Fiona called out. “We’re back!”

Some muffled words came from behind a closed door, but the man in question didn’t show himself. The youngest of the two, Sasha, stated that their father was obsessed with working on inventions.

The three sat down on the floor, Fiona placing a bowl of crisps in the middle. “So, Rhys. You come from a different school? Different planet?”

            “Nope.” He shook his head. “This is my first school.” _I think_.

            “So, you were home schooled then? That’s cool. We were too for a while, but then I blew up one of Felix’ inventions, and he got us into a real school.” Sasha simply stated, grabbing, and eating away the crisps.

            “Whoa… Was it a robot?”

            “Nah.” Fiona took her hat off, placing it in her lap. “An ice cream machine.”

            “Which is also a robot thing.” Her sister grinned.

            “Robots are cool! We have a robot kit at home. Dad says we’re gonna build one!”

            “Your dad must be awesome!” Sasha scooted closer to him, holding out the bowl of crisps.

Rhys gladly took a few, and chewed away while making affirmative sounds. “He cries a lot though. Dunno why.” He shrugged.

            “Our dad only cries when he smashes his fingers with a hammer.” The oldest of the pair wiggled her fingers with a scowl.

            “Which is often.”

A forceful knock on the door startled the three of them. Nobody stood, knowing better than to carelessly open the front door on _Helios_.

The door to Felix’ workroom opened, and the old man stepped out as he took his goggles off. Before he walked to the front door, he paused to stare at the third child. “Did I adopt another one last night?” It _was_ a wild night after all.

            “No, he’s a friend from school.”

            “Oh, okay. Good.” The man nodded, and went to open the front door.

Handsome Jack quickly pushed him aside, gun ready in one hand. He walked through the hallway, and kicked the door to the living room open. “Rhys?!”

The nine-year-old craned his head backwards, falling on his back in the process.

Fiona quickly grabbed her younger sister, holding her close. She glared at the man with the angriest eyes she could manage. “ _That’s_ your dad?! Why does he have a gun?!” She yelled.

            “I dunno!” Rhys exclaimed, pushing himself up.

Jack stared down at the kids, slowly lowering his gun. He then focused his attention on his son. “Rhysie. _Why_ didn’t you wait for me?” He kept his voice low, and as calm as possible.

            “The teacher let us go early, a-and Fiona and Sasha wanted to play.”

            “I thought you got kidnapped! Don’t scare me like that!” He holstered his gun, and held out his hand. “Let’s go home, kiddo.”

The nine-year-old sighed, and took his hand. “Kay…” He looked back at the two girls, his lower lip slowly sticking out to form a pout.

            “You’ll see them again tomorrow.” The CEO pulled him along, out of the living room. They passed by Felix, whom was sitting on the floor, and holding his head. The two guards stood near him, one of them trying to check for any wounds.

            “Don’t touch me!” The old man yelled, furiously slapping at the two.

            “Let’s go, nerds!” Jack called, whistling afterwards.

\---

            “I don’t want you leaving his side anymore, got it? _Nothing_ happens without _me_ knowing about it.” Jack lectured both guards.

Steven looked at Terence, remaining silent.

            “Sir, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

            “Excuse me? What?” The CEO laughed. “What did you just say to me, cupcake?”

            “W-with all due respect, sir.” Terence cleared his throat, trying to keep his composure. “He needs to make friends—”

            “We _are_ making him friends! Good, obedient _robotic_ friends!”

            “He needs _human_ friends, sir!” The guard was starting to get annoyed. “We’ll watch over him, but we are _not_ preventing him from making friends.”

            “What he said.”

            “Shut up, Steven.”

Jack scowled, and grumbled. He ordered them to get out, wanting to have a word with the nine-year-old. “Rhysie?”

No answer.

            “Kiddo, come on.” He knocked on the kid’s bedroom door.

            “Go away!” Came from behind the door.

            “N’awh, Rhys! Are you really that mad?”

            “Yes!” A thud signified something being thrown at the door.

            “Don’t you want to build your new pal?”

            “NO!”

The father groaned loudly, and tried to get the door open. It was locked. “What the hell, Rhys?! Open the door!”

            “Go. Away!”

Jack stepped back, ready to kick the door in, but he stopped himself. “Rhys… I’m sorry, kay? I was worried about you.”

            “I _don’t_ want robot friends!”

            “I know. I know, cupcake. We’ll figure something out, okay?”

There was silence.

            “Can you open the door now? We do have that robot to build. It’ll be the only one, I _promise_.”

The door was unlocked, and creaked open. Rhys peaked out, slowly lifting up his hand. “Pinkie promise?”

            “Of course, kiddo.” He intertwined their pinkies, and shook on it. He used their locked fingers to pull the kid out of his room, and get him close. The CEO wrapped his arms around him, and ruffled the back of his head.

 

Rhys really did try to build the robot. He truly did. But, Jack was too protective, and only allowed him to hand things over, and hold metal in place. He made the nine-year-old wear double safety goggles, and a protective suit. While he, himself, wore his lazy wear which consisted of a t-shirt, and sweatpants.

Nevertheless, Rhys was excited when he was allowed to press the ‘on’ button. The little ball of robot started to whirr, and eventually it took shape. A head, and a pair of arms popped out from the metal ball, and light blue eyes started to glow.

            “Hi! Wow, hey. Really great to meet you all!” The robot sounded like a child, like a young girl.

The kid smiled widely, taking his safety goggles off. “Hi!”

The robot turned to face the little thing, and waved. “Hello!”

            “You’re so cute!” Rhys reached out to pet it. “What’s your name?”

            “I’m Gortys!”

            “Hi Gortys, I’m Rhys, and _this_ is Jack.” He patted his father’s chest.

Jack watched the two interact with sharp eyes, watching for any signs of danger.

            “Whoa…” Gortys seemed in awe, and then she whispered. “He has such big hands…”

            “He’s _really bad_ at making clay figures…” The nine-year-old whispered back.

            “So, Rhysie!” The father laughed. “Why don’t you go play with Gortys, while daddy does some more work?”

            “Kay!” Rhys pushed himself off the ground, and with trouble shed himself from the protective suit, kicking his feet free.

Lately, the CEO refrained from helping him with his clothes, forcing the kid to learn to do it himself. While his brain usually forgot the fact that he was capable of doing so, his body had learned the motions necessary.

Jack grinned as the two disappeared into the child’s bedroom, satisfied with his little creation. Gortys didn’t just look cute, she was also capable of utterly _annihilating_ anyone that _dared_ to look at Rhys the wrong way.

 

_13 May, 2XXX_

_Gortys is so cool! We stole some chocolate from the kitcehn. I don’t think dad knows. When I grow up I want to make robots too. Just like dad!_

_\- Rhys_

 

_14 May, 2XXX_

_Sasha likes my diary too much. I bit her hand. She bit me back so now we’re friends. Fiona keeps putting her hat on my head and says I should get one. I want a hat._

_\- Rhys_

 

_15 May, 2XXX_

_Jack looked sad today. He wants me to call him dad but I don’t know why. School was boring, and I think the teacher had a little heart attack. That’s what Fiona said anyway._

_\- Rhys_

 

_28 June, 2XXX_

_Vaughn is stupid. I hate therapy. It’s not fun. Today I had a lot of scans which was very scary. Dad was with me the whole time, though. Gortys too. I don’t know what the scans mean._

_\- Rhys_

 

_5 July, 2XXX_

_Dad cried a lot today. He kept looking at papers, and hugging me. I don’t like it when he’s sad. I want to do better, because I know it’s me._

_\- Rhys_

 

_7 July, 2XXX_

_Vaughn praised me today. I hung up sticky notes everywhere so I will remember. I don’t like forgetting. I make a lot of puzzles and play memory games by myself._

_\- Rhys_

 

_20 July, 2XXX_

_Angel and Gaige sitting in a tree. K-i-s-s-i-n-g. I knew it! Dad didn’t, but I did. Because I’m smart. Angel and Gaige help me with memory games. Gaige is nice. Gortys likes her too._

_\- Rhys_

 

It was 7AM when Jack decided to force himself out of bed. He scratched his ass, and went to make himself a cup of coffee before starting the first challenge of the day; waking his youngest child up. He drank the scalding drink, ignoring the pain, and instead focusing on how it woke him up.

The man took a deep breath, and counted the seconds before breathing back out. He put his mug down, and headed to Rhys’ bedroom.

Quietly, he opened the door, and stepped in. His socks, which were horrendously yellow, and _very_ dirty, allowed him to move silently. He placed a hand on the kid’s only shoulder, and gently shook him awake. “Rhysie. Wake up, kiddo…”

The child stirred, but only huddled himself further in the blankets. “Noooo…” Came muffled.

Jack huffed. “You need to go to school today.” It wouldn’t be long before Rhys would look up, and go into his standard panic-mode.

The nine-year-old huffed back, slowly emerging from beneath his blanket shelter. He looked at the man, and paused for a moment. His eyes were still bleary, and almost completely closed.

            “Morning Rhyscakes.” The CEO attempted to calm the mess that was his hair.

            “Hey _dad_.” He yawned, trying to bat the hands away.

Jack ceased all his movements, his mouth gaping open. He stared down at his son. “Rhysie…” He rubbed at his forehead in confusion, hand scratching over the clasps that held his mask in place.

            “Yeah?” A faint smile crept of the kid’s face.

No one would ever know, nor believe, that the most powerful man of the universe was reduced to a sobbing mess due to a mere child.

Jack wrapped his arms around him, and pulled him close. “Good morning, Rhys.” He kissed the kid’s cheek. “ _Good morning_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me Tumblr write (haha get it? write? right? yeah) here: junskay.tumblr.com  
> Feel free to leave comments, and stuff, I still very much enjoy reading them!  
> What do you hope happens next? I've got stuff planned out, but there is always room for more


	6. We Need A Solution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that it took so damn long to update, I have been incredibly busy lately.  
> Anyway, enjoy this chapter, and let me know what you think (if you feel like it)  
> Thanks for all the comments so far, I'm glad people enjoy this story!

There was soft pattering over the polished wooden floor, followed by the soft whirring of a small robot, and then the heavy steps of an adult.

Angel groaned, turning around in her bed, and huddling further into her blankets. She had the day off, and she was _not_ going to get out of bed before 11am. She blindly patted around her bed, searching for that horrendous yellow bear she once got when she was six, and pulled it close to her chest, focusing on _sleeping, sleeping, sleeping_.

            “RHYS, GET OVER HERE!” She heard her father yell.

            “MAKE ME!” The kid yelled back from down the hallway.

            “Rhyyys, come here!” Came Gortys’ voice. She never really yelled; too kind to do so.

The teenager groaned softly to herself, pulling the blanket over her head.

            “RHYS, PUT YOUR DAMN PANTS ON!” Jack was running through the house, wondering how the _hell_ a nine-year-old managed to out-speed him. He had to stop to catch his breath, resting his hands on his knees. Gortys moved around him in circles, trying to spur him on.

            “Come on, Jack! We _can_ catch him!”

            “I-…” He panted. “I need a moment.” He swallowed, trying to ease his sore, dry throat.

            “Ooookay! Take all the time you need!” She always sounded so happy. “I’ll just wait right over here.” She rested her thin metallic hands on, what counted as, her belly, and looked around the spacious living room.

Jack took a deep breath, and opened his mouth: “ANGEL!”

The girl rolled into a tighter ball, frowning to keep her eyes shut. _Ignore it_ , she thought to herself.

            “ANGEL, I NEED HELP!”

She refused to respond, and as a result came the banging on her bedroom door.

            “Angel! Baby, open the door. He won’t put on pants.” He almost whined like a toddler.

Angel started faking snoring sounds, _very softly_ , but loud enough for him to hear.

            “Goddamn it.” Jack stepped away from the door. “RHYS!”

 

Rhys was hiding, with a big grin on his face that he had to cover with his hand to prevent laughter from slipping through. He heard his father enter the room, moving around the big bed he was hiding under.

Jack closed the door behind him, and tossed the kid’s pants on his bed. He stared at the piece of furniture, purple, like Elpis’ glow, fabric hid everything that may hide under the bed. It was the perfect place to _usually_ hide weapons. But, ever since he took Rhys in, he decided on better hiding spots for his guns; like behind a panel on the wall.

He sighed. “Gee, I _wonder_ where Rhys went!” He rolled his eyes when he heard the kid trying to cover up his laughs. “I bet he’s… in the closet!” Jack kept looking at the bed, as he opened the walk-in closet door. “I better look aaaall the way inside!” He faked his footsteps fading away, and shut the closet door, _waiting_.

The nine-year-old was quick to scramble out from under the bed, and _unfortunately_ for him, Jack stood on his blind side. The father quickly swooped in, grabbing the kid whom squealed, and kicked around in response.

            “GOT YA!” He grinned, and ‘wrestled’ the kid down onto the bed. Somehow, he managed to put the kid’s pants on his kicking legs, and button it closed.

            “Boo…” Rhys puffed his cheeks.

            “Boo you, yeah. Come on, kiddo. Time for school.” He pulled the kid up from the bed, and pushed him towards the door.

Rhys groaned. “Noooo. Don’t wanna!”

            “Why not?” Jack kept pushing him forward, even if the nine-year-old tried to dig his heels into the floor.

            “I don’t know _anyone_! It’ll be boring!”

            “You’ll be fine, munchkin. They know you, and they’ll be nice. Gortys is with you as well, right? So, you know her!”

            “S’not the same…” The kid sighed as he was lifted up.

            “Rhysie, listen to me.” Jack waited until they locked eye(s). “You’ll be fine. I promise.” Truth be told, he didn’t really know what to say. Addressing his memory loss too much would cause the nine-year-old to become upset, but he couldn’t let the little thing be sad all the time.

            “Dad?”

            “Hmm?” He hummed, walking towards the living room. He held his son against his chest, allowing him to rest his small head on his shoulder.

            “When I read my diary…” Rhys paused for a moment. “You cry a lot.”

The man stopped walking. “I do not, I must have been cooking! Onions, right? Right?”

            “…’kay.”

Contrary to popular belief; Jack was a terrible liar. The only people that bought his lies were toddlers, and _maybe_ seven-year-olds. The man knew his son didn’t buy it, but merely dropped the subject. Which was good, because the kid didn’t need this weight on his single shoulder.

            “Let’s get ya to school, kiddo! Gonna get some good grades!”

            “Because I’m smart!”

            “Hell yeah!” The CEO ruffled the kid’s hair as he set him back down on the floor. “Don’t forget your lunch. _I_ made it today.”

Rhys paused, looking at him. In silence he opened his diary, flipping through the pages.

            “Uhh… Rhysie?”

He took a deep breath before speaking. “Dear diary, while dad is good at cooking dinner, he really sucks at making sandwiches. Today he mixed ketchup up with chili sauce. I don’t like either on a piece of bread.” He looked at his father. “I wanna check what’s on there.”

            “Angel watched me like a hawk when I made it yesterday night.” Jack was semi-impressed at the child. Kudos to him for checking his diary all the time.

            “Oh okay.” Rhys took his lunch. “Who’s Angel again?”

            “Come on, Rhysie! You know that! Think!”

The kid fiddled with his lunchbox. He hummed before smoothing it over into words. “Mmmy… sister?”

            “Yep! Good job!” The CEO patted his head again. “All right, come on. We gotta hurry.”

 

Rhys clung to Jack’s hand as they ran down the hallways. They had _one more minute_ to be on time, and the nine-year-old hated being late.

Jack’s keen eyes already saw the teacher stepping out of the room to close the door. He glanced at the little robot that scooted after them, and quickly hooked his foot behind her. Gortys gave a surprised shout when he kicked her towards the door.

With a loud bang, the little robot crashed into the wooden door, effectively breaking it. August just stared at the happening, arching his brows.

The CEO lifted his son up with one arm, and took the last big strides to the door. Quickly, he set the kid down inside the premise of the classroom. “On time!”

            “YAY!”

The class looked at him, Fiona, and Sasha giggling, and motioning for him to come over.

The nine-year-old quickly sat down next to them with a smile. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt comfortable with them.

Jack glanced at the little robot that was struggling to free itself from the wood, and he hooked his foot behind her again. With a swift kick, the round little thing scooted over to his son.

The man planted his hands on his hips, and side-eyed the teacher, whom gave a quick smile. Jack kept his face stuck in a scowl to unnerve him. He needed his fun in the morning. He watched the man scurry back into the classroom, and close the broken door after the CEO had stepped back.

 

With a whistle the forty-something-year-old walked the short path from elevator to front door. He typed in the code, and tapped the door open with his toes. He looked up with a grin on his face, seeing his daughter lounging of the sofa with a bowl of cereal. “You finally decided to get up?”

            “I have the day off.” She mumbled back, flipping through some papers on her lap.

            “Well, I _don’t_. Sooo, I’m just gonna shower, and head back out. Didn’t have time to do that earlier.”

Angel didn’t respond, and just silently put her half empty bowl on the coffee table. “Hey, dad?” Her voice sounded off. Something was clearly wrong.

            “Yeah?” Jack looked back at her, stopping in his tracks.

            “What’s this all about?” She stood up from the couch, gripping the papers in her hand tightly as she waved them in front of his face. Her expression was a mixture of hurt, and anger.

Her father kept his lips sealed.

            “ _Jack_.” Oh, something was _really_ wrong. Her eyes were narrowed, and her teeth were digging into her bottom lip.

            “Those are results, Angel.” Jack took the papers from her hands. “From Rhys’ scans.” When his daughter didn’t speak, he took her hand, and sat her down on the couch. He planted himself next to her, slinging an arm around her shoulders. “…I uh…” He tried to string words together. He could do this. “Diseases are assholes, and uh… _thi_ s one is the _biggest_ asshole.”

            “Great wording, dad.” She mumbled, unable to find the fun in it.

The man laid the papers out on the table, staring at the values, and numbers. He opened his mouth to speak, but Angel cut him off.

            “So, his life expectancy is six months? Even with _all_ the damn medication, and therapy, and all the other stuff?” She couldn’t even bring herself to raise her voice.

            “…Yeah.”

            “Did you tell him?”

            “Of course not! Besides, I’ll figure something out.” He took a deep breath. “The scientists just need some… _gentle_ _encouragement_.”

Angel sighed, rubbing her face with her hands.

            “It’s going to be all right, pumpkin. Daddy’s got it covered.”

            “Do you really?”

            “I’m a hero!”

The girl rolled her eyes. “I’m going to grab my cereal, and crawl back in bed.” She stood up. “Do your best at work.” She messed up her father’s perfect hair, and left to her room.

Jack mumbled something, trying to fix his hair. He slowly stood up from the couch, and made his way to the bathroom.

He stripped down, and opened the medicine cabinet to grab shampoo more expensive than the average apartment on Helios. He stared at the numerous bottles that contained the kid’s medication. It wasn’t fair.

Rhys was a good kid. He was nice, and liked to help. Even though he was a pain in the butt from time to time, the child still tried his best with everything he did. He got better at drawing as the months went by, and many of them were already decorating the fridge.

_He didn’t want that to stop._

Before Jack even realised it, the mirror on the cabinet had shattered, glass littering the sink, and floor. His left hand was filled with small shards, blood seeping from the cuts. It was becoming harder and harder to contain his anger. Outbursts like these shouldn’t even be surprise to him anymore. As long as neither of his children saw him like this, it would be fine. That’s what he told himself every _goddamn_ day.

\---

With his hand bandaged up, and a deep scowl on his face, the meeting went by fairly quickly. People were too terrified to stay any longer than necessary. They missed the times there was an eight-year-old wiggling in the CEO’s lap.

There were impatient finger taps, annoyed huffs, and uncountable eye rolls coming from Handsome Jack. With a deep sigh he asked his questions. “Soooo, what is it going to cost me?”

            “We estimate roughly $16 million, sir.” The head from finances mumbled, fiddling with his thumbs.

            “Mhm.” Jack rubbed his temples. “I want it all written out by eeeh…” He sighed again, looking up at the ceiling. “Wednesday.”

There was a silence, and everyone looked at each other. Today was Monday. They’d never have enough time!

            “Is there a problem?” The man looked at his employees. “Of course there isn’t. Well! Get your asses back to work, kiddos!” He dismissed the idiots with a wave of his hand, and watched them scurry out of the room.

He looked at the bandages around his hand, and sighed _again_. He’s being doing a lot of sighing today.

As the day went by, and all e-mails were sent, his wristwatch noted the time to be 2:30pm. That was the exact time his ECHO-comm rang, displaying an unknown number. Jack side-eyed the device with a frown, not in the mood to pick up. Instead of sighing, he decided to groan as he answered. “What?”

            “Uhm? Is this Mr Lawrence?” A young woman’s voice sounded.

            “Sure. What ya want?”

            “I’m afraid there has been a little _accident_ at school today with your son, Rhys.”

The CEO sat up straight in his chair. “ **Accident**?” He hissed the word. “What happened?”

            “Well… He…” She coughed. “He punched another child on his nose, _breaking_ it.”

            “Oh! Well that’s not so bad!” Jack had a grin on his face.

            “Sir, this is serious! He could be expelled from school for this. We want you to come down to the principal’s office right away to discuss this matter, Mr Lawrence.”

            “All right, all right. Don’t get your panties in a twist, I’ll come over.”

\---

Rhys’ eye was red, and swollen. The pout of his face finished the upset look. He side-eyed the kid next to him, and grinned as he saw the bloody handkerchief pressed to his nose. “Wuss.” He mouthed.

            “ _One armed freak_.” The child’s whispering voice was nasal.

The nine-year-old tightened his grip on his pants, keeping his mouth shut. He looked up at the principal, whom was writing things down. He flinched when there was a knock on the door, and turned around.

The door was pushed open, revealing the beaten child’s father.

Vaguely, Rhys recognised him. Slimy, gross. What was his name again? Nope, he didn’t remember. He looked back down at his feet.

            “Mr Vasquez.” The principal offered a sympathetic smile. “Thank you for coming.” She gave him a hand.

            “I came as soon as I heard of the _assault_.” The man patted his son’s shoulder. “You okay, junior?”

The child shook his head, crocodile tears welling up again. “He broke my nose!”

            “You ripped apart my diary!” Rhys yelled at him.

Vasquez’ eye finally landed on the other child. His face drained from any colour, and his expression simply stated: ‘ _Shit_ ’.

Another knock on the door, and the second father stepped in after kicking it open. “Okay, who did he punch?” Jack folded his arms, scanning the room. “Hey, hey hey! Wallethead!”

Hugo’s face got some colour back, slowly going beet red. “H-hello Handsome Jack, sir.”

            “Mkay. Gimme a recap on what happened.” He looked at the principal, whom was nervously shifting from left to right.

            “W-well, sir. Hugo junior—.”

            “Ooh hoho, my god. You named your child…” He laughed. “After _yourself_?” He faked wiping away a tear. “ _Priceless_.”

            “Sir. Even if Rhys is… your son… It is not acceptable that he hurts his fellow classmates.”

            “Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” Jack kneeled down in front of his son. “What happened, kiddo?”

            “H-Hugo tore up my diary!” Rhys hiccupped. “He made fun of everything I wrote, a-and said I’m a freak!”

            “You’re _not_ a freak, munchkin.” The man glared at the other nine-year-old, and then up at his father.

            “…Then why do I only have one arm?” The kid swung his legs. “Dad, I don’t like going to school.”

            “Ya gotta, though. You want be smart, right? Take over Hyperion after me?”

Rhys wiped at his snotty nose, and nodded.

Vasquez watched the two, annoyed, yet too scared to do anything. To keep himself busy he checked on his son’s broken nose. The kid wailed, and tried to push his hands away, crying about stickiness.

The principal cleared her throat. “It’s all nice that everyone has calmed down, but neither can go unpunished.”

Jack groaned, and his son mimicked him.

            “Rhys will be suspended for a week, and Hugo for three days.”

            “WHAT! That’s so unfair!” Rhys yelled, jumping off of the chair.

            “Yeah! I agree with my kiddo. Mini-wallethead started it!” Jack pointed at the child which had taken up on crying at maximum volume again.

The principal threw up hair hands. “I can make that two weeks, Mr Lawrence. I can also _expel_ him.” She took out some papers. “I also see that you adopted him? This sort of behaviour prompts an inspection.” Any fear, or nervousness she showed previously had faded from her face. “You’ll receive a letter about it.”

            “Wow, I _hate_ you.” The CEO lifted his child up.

            “I am simply doing my job, sir.”

Jack mumbled something, but only Rhys heard it, and he laughed, whispering “ _Naughty word_.”.

\---

Angel was seated on the couch, together with Gaige. They were playing a low rated videogame on the television, and complained about the graphics, and voice-acting. It was one of their favourite things to do together. Neither really payed mind to the door opening, and Rhys storming in with Gortys on his tail.

Jack followed after him, slamming the door shut behind him.

            “I think I should go home.” Gaige mumbled, keeping her eyes on the screen.

There as a crack of wood, and one of the dining chairs broke down.

            “Yep.” Angel paused the game, and stood up from the couch. She took the other’s hand, and guided her to the front door. “See you tomorrow at school.” She smiled, leaning in to kiss her.

            “Keep it PG rated over there!” Her father yelled from the back of the room.

The teenager rolled her eyes, and planted a kiss on Gaige’s cheek. “Bye.”

            “Bye.” The girl waved, and hurried off to the elevator.

Angel shut the door, and turned to her dad. “What happened?”

            “Rhys got suspended from school.” The CEO took the dining chair he broke, and tiredly tried to fit the broken leg back under.

            “What he do?” She walked over, and kept the chair steady to make it easier for the man. “Glue’s in the cabinet.”

            “Hmm.” Her father wandered off, and opened a few drawers until he found his Hyperion issued glue. “Punched a kid in the nose.” He said as he walked back.

            “I can’t believe he, sort of, took up on your advice!”

            “Well.” Jack sat down on the floor, and leaned back to fit under the chair. “You know Wallethead, right?”

            “Mhm.”

            “Apparently he has a kid.” He put far too much glue on the tip of the broken leg. “That kid ripped up his diary, and called him a freak. So, I’m not blaming Rhysie here.”

            “Schools usually think violence is not the answer, dad.”

            “Well. Mini-wallethead only got suspended for three days, and Rhysie for a week! Which is just _unfair_.”

            “Did…” She sighed. “ _Mini_ -wallethead punch Rhys?”

            “…No…”

            “Violence is a heavier crime than ripping up a piece of property. You know that.”

            “I do both, and I don’t get shit.” Jack pressed the wooden leg against the underside of the chair, and held it there.

            “But, _you’re_ Handsome Jack, and Rhys is just Rhys.”

The CEO was silent for a moment. “…But what if he’s _more_ than just Rhys? You don’t want to take over the company—.”

            “Damn right, I don’t. I don’t want to get grey early, like you!”

            “Yeah, _ya told me_. Anyway, I was thinking of making little Rhysie my heir. _Handsome Rhys_. Can you imagine? It has a nice ring to it.”

            “Let’s just _first_ get through these six months.” She mumbled.

            “Yeah.” Jack pushed himself back out from under the chair, and sat up. “That’s a good idea.”

            “I do think you should tell Rhys, though.”

            “Come on, Angel. He’s _nine_ , let him be a kid.”

The teenager huffed, and shook her head. “Just tell him sometime. It doesn’t have to be _now_ , but tell him.” She headed to the door.

            “Where you going?”

            “To the store to get him a new diary.”

            “Good thinking.”

            “I learned from the best.”

            “Aw, baby. Thanks!” Jack grinned.

            “I meant Steven and Terence.” She winked, and quickly disappeared out the door.

            “Who the fuck are they?”

 

Rhys sat at his desk in his bedroom, angrily drawing Hugo with a bloody nose. He was muttering to himself as he glared at the drawing. He didn’t look up when there was a knock on his door, and he didn’t stop drawing when his father came to stand next to him.

            “Hey, champ.” Jack started.

            “Hey…”

            “Wanna talk about it?”

The kid put his pencil down, and looked up. “I don’t get why he ripped up my diary.”

            “He was _jealous_ of how awesome it was. Angel went out to get you a new one.”

            “But, it won’t be the same!”

            “True, but—.”

He was getting cut off a lot today. “I won’t have my memories, dad! I’ll forget!” Tears were welling up in the kid’s eye. “I don’t want to forget.” His bottom lip was trembling.

            “Oh, munchkin.” Jack wiped at the tear track, and pulled him close. “It’ll be okay. Daddy’s got ya.”

 

_Dear new diary. Hi. I miss my old diary. Dad let me complain all I wanted today. That was nice. We also ate a lot of pancakes. I won’t have school for a week, so I’m gonna be soooo bored._

_\- Rhys_

Jack pushed the door of his son’s bedroom open with his butt, a cup of coffee in one hand, and a soggy sandwich in the other. He set both down on the kid’s desk, and shook him awake. “C’mon Rhyscakes. Wakey wakey.”

Rhys sighed, rolled onto his back. “I feel nauseous.” He mumbled, the words almost getting lost in his sleepiness.

The man placed his hand on the nine-year-old’s forehead. “You are pretty warm. Maybe you’re coming down with a fever.”

The kid squeezed his eyes shut, not yet wearing his eyepatch. “My head hurts… My eye too.” He rolled on his side, huffing. “My stomach, too.”

            “You stay in bed, and I’ll get you some food and medication, ‘kay?”

            “Kay.” The child curled up, pressing a plush against his stomach.

Jack left the room, and was quick to rummage through the medicine cabinet. Noting in his head that he still had to replace the mirror. He grabbed Rhys’ usual medication, and a few pills specifically for fevers.

He sat by the kid’s side as he took his pills, and chewed on his soggy bread. The man tucked him back in, and pressed a kiss to his heated forehead. “Catch some sleep, champ.”

Rhys mumbled something, quickly dozing off again.

Jack shut the door behind him, and ordered his Personal Assistant to clear his schedule for the next few days. With a lot of complaining, she got to work.

There was _no way_ the overprotective man that was Handsome Jack was going to leave his son all by himself. Besides, he could do most of his work from home. As long as no employees thought they’d get more time, everything was _fine_. He could use today to contact some scientists, and doctors…

The man paused his walking, eye falling on the door to his private study. He took a deep breath as he thought about the six-month time limit. Just some gentle encouragement. Yep. That was all that they needed. It would be okay. Rhys would be fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on Tumblr right over here: junskay.tumblr.com
> 
> I imagine mini-Wallethead like an actual Vasquez, suit, and all. But... 9
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, feel free to comment your thoughts, and what your hopes are for the next chapters :)


	7. Silence

Rhys wasn’t getting better. He lay in bed, clutching his stomach, and trying to hold Carrot tightly at the same time. Sometimes, Jack would hold him closely until he managed to fall asleep. As four weeks passed, and doing everything within their power, the small family of three had no other option than to see a doctor.

The kid didn’t want to walk, complaining that he couldn’t feel his legs, so his father carried him. He didn’t want to eat, saying that his stomach felt as if it was going to burst, so Angel liquefied all his food to try and trick him into eating.

All he wanted was to sleep. Sleep all day long.

As he underwent a full body scan, he stared into the light, wondering what was going on. His body felt so heavy, as if he couldn’t move, and he shut his eye.

\---

Jack watched the fragile, small body in the stark white hospital bed. A place he didn’t think he’d see the kid again. An oxygen mask covered his nose and mouth, and the condensation on the plastic signified his even breathing.

The man leaned forward in his chair, and covered that small, _tiny_ hand with his own. “Hey there, Rhysie.” He rubbed the hand with his thumb, and took a deep breath. “You’re going to miss Angel’s birthday like this. You’ll miss out on the cake.” He cleared his throat. “Just… wake up soon, okay?” He looked at the cards that decorated the wall, all written by his classmates. “You should’ve seen the board members today, kiddo. They were scared shitless of me, and I didn’t even threaten them. Oh! I also fired that Vasquez-guy, well… Demoted him back to code-monkey.”

Normally, Rhys would be laughing, or pouting, but now his face was so disgustingly _peaceful_.

The door silently opened, and a doctor stepped in. The same man that scanned Rhys a few days ago, right when it went downhill. “Sir?”

The CEO looked over his shoulder, but didn’t let go of his son’s hand.

            “I know everything may seem… scary now, but.” The man stepped closer. “His scan is not all that bad. _Better_ than the previous.”

            “Then why the hell is he not waking up, genius?”

            “There is a swelling in his brain.” He took out the pictures of the scan, and circled the brain with his index finger. “But, it’s not a severe swelling, and most likely caused by an electrolyte imbalance.”

            “Which means…?”

            “Electrolytes are nutrients in the body, with a lot of functions. They go from regulating the heartbeat to allowing the contraction of muscles so we can move.” The doctor sat down. “It is a result of his fever, and fluid loss.”

            “And what happens now?”

            “Where going to administer him the nutrients he’s lacking, and wait for his body to respond. Once the electrolytes are balanced, the swelling should go away, and he should wake up.”

            “Okay. _Good._ ” He paused. “What about his, uhm… the…”

            “His terminal state?”

            “Yeah.”

            “All we can do right now is keep a close eye on his diet, and make sure he doesn’t come down with a fever again. If anything, it’ll buy us time to research his blood cells, and everything. We won’t give up, sir.”

Jack gave a mere nod, turning his attention back to his son’s still body.

\---

Days slowly crawled by. While Rhys’ eyes remained shut, colour had returned to his face, and he had left his critical condition. Still, he was kept in the Intensive Care, as was normal for _coma patients_.

Scans showed that the swelling was reducing, and his levels were balancing out. All pointed to him waking up soon.

Angel sat in the chair today, idly flipping through a magazine, and counting the steady beats of the kid’s heart. She parted her lips, and sighed, glancing at him. “For my birthday, I want you to wake up. That would be a great present, thanks.” She resumed her reading.

There were quick knocks on the door.

            “Come in.”

The door was pushed open by two little girls, each holding their father’s hand. They greeted the teenager, and walked to Rhys’ bedside.

Sasha poked his arm a few times, until her sister told her to stop, or ‘Cut that out.’. She pulled her hands back a bit, and fiddled with the crumpled bedsheets.

Those two had come every day so far, hoping to see the nine-year-old awake. Every day they were disappointed.

            “Do you think he can hear us?” Fiona asked her father.

Felix shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. You can try talking to him, perhaps he’ll wake up sooner.”

            “Rhys, it’s really boring in school without you. Hugo wants to hang out with us now, and he has slimy hands.”

            “He tried to steal Fiona’s hat!” Sasha puffed.

            “You _really_ have to come back soon. I don’t know how much longer we can keep this up without seriously injuring him.”

Angel grinned, but kept her laughter to herself. She closed her magazine, and looked at the three. “You Rhys’ friends?” She never really met them, but heard about them.

            “Yeah.” The oldest of the two sisters removed her hat. “You’re Angel, right? The pretty lady?”

            “I guess I am.” She smiled.

            “When is he going to wake up?”

            “We don’t know; the doctor says it’ll be soon.”

            “He better… Is going to come back to school then, too?”

            “I think that’ll take a while longer.”

            “Boo.” The youngest poked Rhys’ arm again. “Wake up, dork.”

            “Sasha! Stop poking his arm. He’ll bruise like a banana!”

\---

            “I want him to wake up already!” Handsome Jack paced back, and forth through the doctor’s office. “Try something else! _Anything_!” He kicked at a random crutch that stood on display against the wall. “It’s been a goddamn week! _You_ said he’d wake up once his levels were balanced out! They’re balanced out!”

The doctor watched him, helplessly. “Sir, maybe you should sit down for a moment.”

            “Shut. Up! I’ll sit down if I feel like it!” He paused his pacing. “Why is he not waking up? Is there _nothing_ you can do?”

            “…Talking to him helps. Sir, you haven’t visited him in the last few days. It has always been your daughter. Is there something—.”

            “ **I don’t want to see him like that**.” Jack’s face was hardened, taught not to display _weak_ emotions to strangers. “I want to see him running around like an idiot, and laughing until he gets all disgusting by snorting milk from his nose.”

            “You should see him, Handsome Jack sir. People have always speculated that people in a coma can _hear_ what is going on. There was once a woman that figured out her husband _cheated_ on her while she was in a coma. All because one of the nurses talked about it around her.”

The CEO arched a brow.

            “What I mean to say is; talk to him. Every single day. Read to him from his favourite books, _anything_. That’s all what is left from what we can do.”

In silence, Jack left the office. He ‘firmly’ shut the door behind him, and made way to the Intensive Care.

He paused before entering the premise of Rhys’ room. The man took a deep breath, and stepped inside. “Hey there, kiddo.” He walked to his side, and looked at him.

The child still looked peaceful, _asleep_ instead of in a coma. His stomach moved up and down with his even breaths.

            “I am uh.” He cleared his throat. “I’m gonna tell ya a story, so you better start waking up.” He tapped the kid’s fingers. “Once upon a time there was a little kiddo, and he left home to go on an adventure. After he walked, and walked for days on end, he came across a forest. There he met a beautiful ink black wolf, guiding a herd of sheep. He watched the wolf consume berries, but never attack his sheep friends.” Jack watched for any signs of activity on the child’s face. “The kid got closer, offering apples, and more to the giant wolf. The animal got closer, and took all the fruit it was offered. It allowed the boy to stay, and protected him as if he was part of the herd.” He started playing with Rhys’ fingers, and took a deep breath. “One day, the little kiddo got very sick, and the wolf was terrified. He carried the kid to the nearest town, and always stayed nearby, waiting for him to come back.”

A silence spread across the room. Jack just stared at his son. He continued. “It took _weeks_ for the kiddo to come back, and wolf was so _happy_. They always stayed with each other, watching out for each other, even when they grew all old, and wrinkly, and gross.” He paused. “I _think_ that’s how the story ends. I’uhno…”

 

Jack watched the nurse enter the room, and remembered her from the time he got a bloody nose. She checked Rhys’ IV-drip, and all the other shit the CEO didn’t bother knowing the name of. She glanced in his direction.

            “You okay?”

            “My son is in a coma, what do you think?”

The young lady watched him for a moment, before returning to her duty. “He was doing really well, lately. _Before_ uh, this.”

            “Yeah…” Jack looked back at the nine-year-old. “He was starting to remember stuff again.”

The nurse stepped back from the machines and drips. “You know; my father was once in a terminal state.” She leaned on the metal bars that surrounded the bed. “They gave him two months. It’s been seven years since then, and he is still hopping around like an idiot. It _is_ possible for patients to pull out from this. As long as no one gives up on them, _including_ themselves.”

            “What did your dad have?”

She gave a wry smile. “Glioblastoma multiforme, which is an aggressive form of brain cancer.”

            “Oh.”

            “Precisely my reaction, and then I cried my eyes out. Anyway, if he can bounce back from _that_. Rhys here can bounce back, too. I’m sure of it.”

            “Well, he _is_ my son! I got tough ones!”

            “I bet you do, sir.”

\---

Four days had passed, and it was 2am.

Angel was fast asleep.

_It was 2am._

Jack burst into her room, and jumped on her bed.

**_It was 2 am._ **

Angel shrieked her throat sore, and flailed her arms at the unknown.

            “ANGEL!” Her father had this manic grin on his face.

            “JACK!” She groaned, and threw her arm over her eyes. “Was this necessary?”

            “ANGEL, HE WOKE UP!” He shook her body by the shoulder.

It took a moment before her sleepy brain caught onto everything, then her eyes grew wide, and she grabbed her dad. “Seriously?!”

            “Hell yeah! Come on, lazy bum! Get up!” He stepped off her bed, and pulled her up.

            “Calm down, lemme put on clothes!”

            “No time for clothes!” Jack lifted his daughter up, and threw her over his shoulder.

            “I swear I _will_ shock you, if you don’t put me down **right now**.”

That got her father to pause, and then he simply dropped her. “Rude.”

With a quiet ‘oof’, Angel fell on her butt, glaring up at the man. “Just give me like five minutes.”

            “Gonna give ya three.” Jack held up three fingers, and winked.

 

Rhys sat up straight in his bed, looking _pretty_ awake. He played with his favourite plush’s ears, and imagined himself talking to it. His head felt heavy, and he was swaying a bit. Nevertheless, the kid refused to rest any more. He wanted to see his family, and he wanted to see them now.

The child looked up when he heard hurried footsteps, and flinched a little when he saw a man, and a young lady coming to a stop in front of his room. They stared at him, and he stared back. Hesitantly, he raised his hand, and waved.

The man quickly entered the room. “Rhysie!” He sounded so relieved.

The nine-year-old looked at him, not answering.

            “Rhys? Kiddo? How are ya feeling?”

The young lady joined them, she covered her lips, that parted in a yawn, with the back of her hand, and planted her butt against the steel railing around the bed. “Welcome back, munchkin.”

Still, Rhys didn’t say anything. He just kind of _looked_ at them. His expression didn’t seem confused, but simply blank.

            “Good evening.” A doctor knocked on the glass, before stepping in. “You two really came running, huh?”

            “Yes, of course we did!” Jack grinned down at his son.

The man in white smiled, and stepped a bit closer. “Has he said anything yet?”

            “Nope.” Angel shook her head. “Is that normal? Don’t tell me he forgot again.” She was too tired to deal with that.

            “I don’t _think_ so. He’s just a little slow, which is quite normal when they wake up. Give him a few hours, maybe a day, and he’ll be as good as before.”

The CEO nodded, taking Carrot the plush rabbit, and tickling the kid’s nose with it. Rhys lamely tried to push it away, pressing himself into the thick pillow to escape the sensation. Jack was persistent, wanting to get a laugh out of that small body.

Rhys sneezed.

Close enough.

            “Mkay, doc. I gotta a chat with ya for a moment.” He stood back up, putting the plush on the kid’s belly. “Angel, you stay here with him.”

The teenager nodded, yawning again.

Jack guided the doctor, who’s name he had forgotten (wasn’t this the doctor from the first time? Probably? Name? Mitchel? Mike? _Michaels_!) to the hallway.

 

            “What is it, sir?” The doctor kept his distance from the man.

            “I was wondering what the possibilities for prosthetics are. Ya know. For the arm, and eye thing.”

            “Cybernetic or just plastic?”

            “Cybernetic. A plastic eye would do for now, but a plastic arm won’t help him if he can’t move it.”

            “Rhys’ body is very much still developing. A glass eye can be taken care of, but I do not recommend giving him a cybernetic arm right now. If we _did_ give him a cybernetic, then I can assure you that not only will his future be littered with surgeries to keep the size up to date, but there is also a high change of infection, given his current state.”

            “Right… Right… But, the eye is a go?” Jack cocked his weight to his left, folding his arms.

            “Yes.”

            “What age is a good age to give him the arm then? Eighteen? Nineteen?”

            “Most males stop growing at twenty-one, but the bones can keep growing until the age of twenty-five.”

            “So… age twenty-five for the implant?”

            “That would be the safest. But, sir. You _haven’t_ forgotten, have you?”

            “…The little nurse had a dad that was terminal. That guy’s alive today, I don’t see why Rhysie can’t.”

Michaels looked at his boss’ boss’ boss, and frowned.

            “As long as no one gives up, **and no one will** , then he can make it.”

            “Of course, sir.”

            “Fix me a glass eye.”

            “Brown?”

Jack paused before answering, looking at himself in the reflection of the glass that parted him from his son. “Blue.”

\---

Rhys had to stay in the hospital for two more weeks, the staff monitoring him closely. So far, everything seemed fine, and there was a steady increase in his survival changes for the next few months. The kid felt a bit tired, but overall didn’t seem to bothered by anything. Well. Except the creepy eye the doctor wanted to push into his head. That was not okay.

            “Rhysie, come on! It ain’t gonna hurt, kiddo.”

            “NO!”

            “You’ll look like me!”

            “You’re ugly!” The nine-year-old wailed, pushed his father away.

            “ _Thatwascompletelyuncalledforyoulittleshit_.” Was muttered under the man’s breath as he tried to keep the kid still.

            “Sir, I can’t do anything if he keeps squeezing his eyes shut.”

            “Well, he’s fucking scared! What’cha want me to do?!”

            “How about.” Doctor Michaels stepped back, putting the glass eye back where it was. “I leave you two alone for a bit. Call me when he’s calmed down and ready.” Without another word, he left the stressful situation to smoke a cigarette in the smoker’s area.

            “Damn it, Rhys. You were so excited to have two eyes, what happened?” Jack wiped at the tear-streaked cheeks.

            “I-it’s gunna hurt!” The kid sobbed, wiping at his snotty nose, and interfering with his father’s hands.

            “It won’t hurt, kiddo.”

            “H-how do you know?”

The CEO sighed. “Because I’m smart.”

Rhys made a doubtful sound, meh’ing his hand.

Jack gave that tiny, taunting hand a small slap. “Don’t be mean.” He pulled him in for a hug. “If it ends up hurting, then you can pinch me really hard.”

            “C-can I get ice cream when we’re done?”

            “Yeah, I’ll get you some ice cream. Banana?”

            “Noooo, vanilla.”

            “You need to try more flavours, kiddo.”

            “Hmmmmno.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “I’m going to get the doctor, and then we’re gonna pop that eye in. He’ll teach ya to do it yourself.”

            “…Kay…”

 

            “All right, Rhys. Take a deep breath, and look up.”

The nine-year-old was clutching onto his father’s hand, taking shaky breaths, and doing as told.

            “You’re going to feel a bit of a _pinch_.” The doctor pushed the prosthetic in.

The kid flinched, and hiccupped, trying to keep himself from tearing up.

            “Blink a few times.”

Rhys blinked, rubbing the new eye gently. He was handed a mirror, and looked at himself. He didn’t say anything. He looked from himself to his father, and then his lips parted in awe. “I look like you…”

            “Damn right ya do. All Handsomed-up.”

The kid looked at himself from different angles, agreeing that _yes_ , he did look like his father.

            “Whenever you put your prosthetic in, make sure that it is lubricated with this clear resolution. It’ll prevent infection.” He put a bottle of clear fluid on the bedside table. “Now. I’m going to show you how to take it out, and then you have to put it back in yourself.”

Removal was rather easy. It simply required the child to press in the right spot, and catch it with something. The doctor recommended a bowl or someone’s hand.

He could only wear the eye during the day, since it could cause irritation if it was worn during sleep. He received a neat little case to put the eye in, and if he ever required different colours, all he had to do was give a call.

 

After one more torturous week, the hospital deemed it safe for the kid to go home, but he had to wait _another_ week before going back to school.

It looked as if the whole coma affair hadn’t taken place. Rhys was chasing Gortys, and trying to help with the cooking as usual. He pestered Gaige, and Angel like any nine-year-old little brother would.

Every now, and then he would fall sick, but it never became as awful as the first time. He’d stay home, tucked in on the couch to watch crap-telly with Gortys.

 

On a peaceful Saturday evening, Rhys was writing in his diary. Every now, and then he would glance his father’s way. “Dad?”

            “Yeah, kiddo?” Jack kept typing on his laptop.

            “What do you do for work?”

            “I’m the CEO.”

            “Yeeaah… but what do you _do_?”

            “CEO-y things.” The man grinned, as he heard his son groan. “Why do you want to know?”

            “We have to give a presentation about our family for English.”

            “Oh. Well. I make sure Helios stays up in the sky. Keep things running. Scare a few people here, and there. Design weap—robots. I design robots.”

            “You made Gortys, too. Right?”

            “Yep!”

Rhys stared at his robotic best friend. She was sleeping, and recharging at the moment. “Can you teach me how to make robots?”

Jack stopped typing away at his report. “You want me to? It’s uh, pretty difficult, kiddo.”

            “I like robots.”

The father smiled. “I know ya do. You want to be like your dad?”

            “Yes!”

            “I’ll teach ya then. I’ll teach you everything. From robots to ruling this whole thing.”

            “Really?!” The kid stood up from his place on the floor.

            “Really.” Jack patted his soft brown hair. “You, and me, kiddo. We’re gonna do _great_ things.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me right here on Tumblr: junskay.tumblr.com  
> See any mistakes? Feel free to send me a message, I'll fix it right away.  
> Also feel free to comments your thoughts on the chapter, and what you hope happens in the future!  
> My hopes: I hope you keep enjoying the story.


	8. Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! No, I'm not dead, just extremely stressed, and tired. It's a small update, but I wanted to give you guys at least something.  
> I hope you enjoy the chapter, despite it being short.

Rhys loved presenting things. Whatever it was, he really didn’t give f… he didn’t give a crud. He barely prepared for any of his presentations, working better on improvisation. All he had were the digital slides he created with his dad.

He swung his legs back, and forth in his seat as he watched Hugo Jr present about his sweet _sweet_ mummy and daddy. From the pictures it appeared as if everyone was a bit slimy, even their naked mole rat.

Their teacher noted down things about the way Hugo spoke, held himself, and how creative his presentation was (it wasn’t).

            “And that was my presentation. Any questions?” The kid shifted his weight from left to right a few times, fiddling with the piece of paper in his hands.

Rhys could be an asshole, and ask a question, but Fiona beat him to it.

            “So what does your dad do now? After the whole; you’re not a boss anymore thing?” She had this cunning grin on her face, and her scarred brow arched as she waited for an answer.

Hugo Jr looked at his teacher, who sighed.

            “Fiona. Those are _not_ the questions to ask.” He ran his hand through his spiked hair.

The girl rolled her eyes. “Fiiiine. Uhm. I don’t have any questions then.” She returned to drawing a crude picture in her notebook.

            “Anyone else?” August looked across the room.

Rhys raised his hand.

            “Rhys, go ahead.”

The kid didn’t say anything for a moment. He glanced down at Gortys, and she looked at him. She just shrugged. The nine-year-old had forgotten his question. “I don’t remember what I wanted to ask. Sorry.”

He heard the slimy kid scoff, and huff a laugh. That was all took to get the kid to just make up a question.

            “Is your naked mole rat actually naked? Or does it have peach fuzz? Why is it naked anyway?”

For a moment, the child was silent, thinking on his answer. “I won’t answer that.”

Rhys rolled his eyes, but stopped the motion as he looked at the ceiling, interrupted by the continuation of the words.

            “You wouldn’t remember anyway.”

            “HUGO!” Their teacher abruptly stood up from his seat.

The, _very well known_ , son of Handsome goddamn Jack narrowed his eyes. Oh, he’d show him. _He’d show him_. He looked down when he felt Gortys tugging on his pants. They gave each other a determined nod, and the kid quickly raised his hand. “Teach I wanna present now!”

August seemed taken aback, and he looked from little Hugo to the other. “Uhm…’kay?”

As Rhys walked forward, with his trusty robot scooting after him, he shot a glare at his slimy classmate, paired with a winner’s smile.

As he turned to face the class, he nodded at his friends, and turned his head to his robot. “Gortys? If you please?”

            “All righty!” Gortys held a small device in her claw-like hands, and from it appeared 3D holograms of the Lawrence family.

            “I have a small family, with one dad, and one sister.” Rhys carefully analysed the picture, relying on that instead of his memory. “Gortys is also part of my family, of course. Dad made her specially for me!”

The little ball of happiness got a smile on her face, and her frame wiggled back, and forth a bit.

Rhys pressed the button for the next slide, which showed Jack in his signature pose. “My dad’s the person who keeps Helios in the air. He likes scaring people a lot. He’s also super smart!” (Jack made sure to stamp that in his little head. He was, after all, the smartest of all smart people. Not that there were many).

            “Angel wants to become a programmer, but also a singer. She has a really pretty voice, and I’ve tried to record it, but then she gets shy.” The nine-year-old pointed at different places on Angel’s pictures. “She has cool tattoos, but I’uhno how she got those.”

Rhys continued to explain whatever he could about his family, most of the information was about Jack, because… well… it was his dad?

            “One day I’ll take after dad, and run Hyperion! He’s teaching me everything, every day!” He patted Gortys’ head, a signal that she could stop the holographic slides. “And that concludes my presentation about my family.”

The class clapped, as was almost mandatory whenever someone finished a presentation, and August said he did very well; he’d get his grade the next day.

\---

Jack lay on the floor in his office, staring at the ceiling he had decorated with cheap, glow in the dark, stars. He hummed in the back of his throat, glancing up at his desk as his secretary’s voice sounded.

            “Sir? I’m calling to remind you of your 2pm meeting with Maliwan? It’s 2:30pm now, sir.”

The man ignored her, much in favour of looking back at the ‘stars’. In two more days it would be _father’s day_. Oh boy. Angel always just bought him something, but _Rhysie_. No, he’d make something. Jack was sure of it.

He rolled on his stomach, staring at the dust in the crook of his desk, and floor. On any other day, Handsome Jack was a work alcoholic. Today, though. Nah. He didn’t really have reason, other than just _not feeling like it_.

He closed his eyes for a moment.

His ECHO-comm beeped, and automatically accepted the call. The secretary was talking again. “Sir, the people from Maliwan have left. They demand a new appointment.”

            “Tell ‘em to uuhhh…” Jack opened his eyes, frowning as he tried to think of something clever. “Tell ‘em to suck my dick. _Nah_ , they’d probably like that.” He sighed, loud, and dramatic. His job was so hard.

            “They’ve filed a complaint, sir.”

            “Oh. My god! Okay, okay, _okay_! I got it. Tell them the following.” He cleared his throat. “Thank you for your complaint. Handsome Jack will file it right between: “Don’t give a flying fuck”, and “Sucks to be you”. See you on Monday 6am.”

He swore he could hear his secretary, the straight faced woman, huff a laugh before she agreed.

It was good to be king.

\---

It was Sunday morning, and Jack had hoped to be woken up with a nice breakfast in bed. But, no.

Rhys jumped on his bed, right on his chest. Angel shrieked with all her might for some reason, and Gortys decided it was a _great_ idea to let the sirens in her system go off.

Their father tried to hide under his blankets, and pillows, but they rudely pulled them off.

            “This is not a father’s day awakening!”

            “It is _here_ , pops.” Angel grinned down at him. “Don’t you want your presents? We thought long, and hard about it.”

Jack narrowed his eyes, not trusting that mischievous smile one bit. “I want my morning breakfast.”

Rhys audibly gasped, and had this big grin on his face. “Angel, can I give it to him yet?!”

The teen rolled her eyes. “Kay. But, he’ll have to eat fast.”

The nine-year-old quickly jumped off the bed, running to the kitchen.

            “Ya know.” The CEO started as he sat up, putting his pillows in his back. “Father’s day is all about _pampering_ the best person in your life. Not rushing through it?”

Before Angel could retort, he held up his hand. “Gonna stop ya right there. Be nice.”

            “I am _always_ nice.”

Rhys pattered back inside, a tray filled with food balanced on one hand. Only now, did Jack notice that he hadn’t even put in his eye yet, so he glanced at the clock. 5:30am. **How dare they.**

The kid scooted the tray on his father’s lap.

            “Ooooh… uh… woooow.” Jack stared at the burned pancakes, and mushed strawberries coated with sugar. There was whipped cream all over the place, and some stray apple pieces. He regained his composure. “It looks _delicious_ , kiddo.” And took his first bite. The man cursed in his head, chewing, and swallowing the completely burned food. He coughed when it was finally gone. “Next time we’ll make something together.” Another cough. “I’ll teach ya the secrets.”

            “Yay!” Rhys threw his arm up, all smiles, and giddiness.

            “Here Angel, try some!” Jack shoved a piece of pancake against her lips.

The girl tried to get away, but some of it got in her mouth anyway. **_It was so bad_**. She gave a thumbs up at her little brother.

            “Present time!” The toddler in an adult’s body pushed the tray of burned food aside, and patted his lap for gifts.

The oldest was the first to give her gift, putting a small package right on his package. “Happy father’s day.”

Jack all but _ripped_ the paper off, revealing… a salt shaker. “The hell?”

            “It’s ‘cause you’re so salty.” She kissed his cheek.

            “Wow, _thanks_.”

            “It’s also imported from Eden-4, and said to be the best quality.”

            “At least you know your salt, pumpkin.” He patted her head, and set the salt shaker aside on his nightstand.

Rhys’ gift was next. It was messily, but adorable wrapped in pink paper with a yellow bow. He silently handed it to his father.

There was a moment of hesitation in Jack. Should he, or should he not just _rip_ the paper off. He undid the bow without breaking eye contact, and saw that tell-tale lift of the kid’s brow that signified his contained excitement.

Jack ripped the paper off, revealing a tiny box with the child’s messy handwriting. “ _For dad_.” He opened the box, and took out a teeny tiny robot. Just a _bit_ shorter than Gortys was. It fit in his hands, and seemed to be turned off. The robot was mostly red, and grey, and for now had a cone-like shape.

The nine-year-old handed him a two button remote. “Green is ‘on’.”

The CEO of Hyperion, master programmer, regretted pressing that button the second he did. The robot unfolded itself a little bit, floating up from his hands, and then…

Emitted a, with static decorated, screech that could possibly rupture eardrums.

            “I couldn’t get his voice right, but he can do everything else!” The kid yelled over the abomination of a sound.

            “Kiddo… _You_ made this?”

Rhys nodded. “I read a lot of books for it.”

The robot screeched again, flying around the room. Jack flinched at the sound, but his ears were already working on tuning it out. “Did uh, Angel help?”

The teenager shook her head. “Nope.” She popped the ‘p’ just like her dad did.

            “What’s his name?”

            “…Dumpy.”

Jack barked out a laugh. “Why ‘Dumpy’?”

            “’Cause he’s not very smart. He’s a little… special. But, not a turd! He’s kinda cute?”

The man caught the little robot, and inspected it left, and right. “Well, he _is_ kinda cute, yes.” He pulled his son in his lap, and kissed his forehead. “Thanks kiddo.”

            “Happy father’s day.”

            “Can I go back to sleep now?”

Dumpy screeched in his ear.

No.

No, he could not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on Tumblr right over here: junskay.tumblr.com  
> You can ask me anything!  
> Feel free to comment your thoughts about this chapter/ story, and assumptions on what will happen next. Because. OH BOY. I have plans.


	9. Happiness for long

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think apologising for silence is going to fix the issue. Truth is that I just haven't been feeling well, haven't written properly in what feels like ages. But! Here it is, the next chapter. Easing myself back into it, reread the entire thing and fixed some located spelling mistakes.

Handsome Jack had a problem. Said problem was nine years old, roughly 145cm tall, and missed an arm and an eye. The _problem_ was wide awake at 2am, and everything Jack said fell on deaf ears.

            “Listen, cupcake; there is _no_ monster under your bed.”

            “I saw it!” The child yelled at him.

            “Shshshssshh, _hush now_.” He did not want Angel to wake up as well. “Let’s use our _quiet_ voices.”

A hiccup escaped Rhys’ parted lips, and he huddled further into his blankets. “Juscheckit…” He mumbled.

Jack sighed, and knelt down. He grumbled as his sore knees hit the wooden floor, but nevertheless peered under the bed. He sighed at all the crumbled pieces of homework that had just ‘disappeared’. “There’s nothing here, as I said.”

            “What about in the corner?”

Another sigh, the father looked at the corner. “Just paper, kiddo.”

There was some mumbling, and shuffling of blankets.

Jack stood back up, peering down at the kid. “You good?”

            “’m good…” Rhys hugged his pillow to his face.

An easy smile crept onto his face, and he ran his hand through the auburn hair. “G’night, Rhysie.”

Some mumbling came back, probably returning the words. It was late, the kid was tired, and Jack could forgive it. The man quietly left the room, and closed the door behind him.

            “Daaaad!” Rhys’ voice came again.

            “Go to sleep.”

            “There’s a monster in my closet!”

This time, the CEO’s sigh was fully mixed with a dramatic groan. He turned back around, and re-entered the room. The kid sat with his back pressed against the wall, keeping his blanket and rabbit plush close to his chest. “Wanna sleep in my bed then?”

Quick nods came, and the nine-year-old scrambled off the bed. He couldn’t grab onto his father’s hand fast enough.

\---

Rhys started to frequently get nightmares. Jack had his own assumptions as to what was going on, but he wanted to hold on to the belief that his son _listened_.

            “Angel?” The man started as he prodded at his breakfast.

The teenager looked up with a mouth filled with bacon.

He took a deep breath. “Didst thee gaze a scary movie with Rhys?”

            “Nay…”

            “Art thee falsing to me?” The man arched one of his brows.

            “Aye.” Without a care in the world, she continued munching on her breakfast.

            “I did trust thee…” Jack put on his best dramatic voice, trying to make his voice echo as if in theatre. It even managed to crack in the form of a sob.

Angel straightened herself, swallowed any food in her mouth, and cleared her throat. She narrowed her eyes, propping an elbow on the table. In her best ominous voice, she responded: “Thee did trust _wrong_ , fath'r…”

The CEO pushed himself up from the table, and pointed an accusing finger. “Trait’r!”

The young lady stood up herself, giving a manic laugh. She ran for it as her father circled the table. “Thee shall _nev'r_ catcheth me!” Heading to the safety of her bedroom, she almost tripped over her younger brother. She flailed her arms, balance lost, and eventually tripped over her own two feet.

Jack laughed, and grabbed her by the ankles. “Rhys, help me!”

The nine-year-old watched the two wrestled, far too early in the morning. He didn’t really respond, but just continued walking.

Angel wriggled out of her father’s grip, and crawled toward her bedroom door, dramatically groaning with each pull forward.

            “Thee shall not escapeth…” An ominous voice spoke, followed by a heavy weight on her body.

The teen smacked her hand on the floor. “Forfeit!” She laughed.

Jack pushed himself back up. “Don’t watch scary movies with Rhys, mkay?” He waved an accusing finger.

            “Got it…”

 

Rhys sat at the table, quietly stealing the food left on his father’s plate, and shoving it into his mouth.

            “You okay, kiddo?” Jack inquired, sitting back down in his seat.

            “I’m fine.” He quietly responded, stealing more of Jack’s food.

The man pushed his plate over, and watched him. “…Do you remember what we did yesterday?”

The kid swung his legs, humming.

            “Think before you answer, cupcake.”

            “We… went to the park.”

            “Which park?”

            “Helios Central Park.”

            “What did we do?” The CEO leaned back, folding his hands over his legs.

            “Played with Gortys and Dumpy.”

Jack nodded. “And after?”

Rhys hummed again. Frowning, looking around the room for answers. “Ate pie.”

            “All right.” He stood up, patting the kid’s head. The little thing seemed so sure of himself now.

But, none of that had happened. True, they _did_ visit the Central Park, but that was a week ago. This started happening more frequently. Rhys would remember something, but forget everything else. He remembered the useless things like what colour Fiona’s hat was, but he wouldn’t know what her name was, or her hair colour. Just the hat. _God_ _forbid_ he remembered who Sasha was.

Jack watched him gather his energy, jump off the chair, and hurry to his bedroom. The nine-year-old had fallen into an easy rhythm, most likely relying on that to get through his days. The calendar in his bedroom would always tell him when he had school, so he’d ‘remember’.

 

Angel took him to school.

Jack forced himself to go to work.

\---

**Thursday 2 February 2XXX**

The man from child services wasn’t new to his job, and for some reason wasn’t scared of Jack. Which was _lame_. How dare he? He looked around the place, scribbled something down, and read over a few things. “I see he has an autoimmune disease?”

            “Yes.” Jack rested his head in his hands.

            “How’s he doing?”

Jack took a deep breath. “Not well.” He sat back, trying to make himself seem aloof. “He was doing fine for a month or two, but the last few weeks have been bad. He forgets _days_ or weeks at a time.”

            “Have you taken him to a doctor?”

            “…Not yet.”

            “Why not?”

_I don’t want to hear what I think I’ll be hearing_. “I thought the issue would resolve itself.”

            “ _Clearly_ it hasn’t.” The man scribbled something down. “Make an appointment with a doctor, or we’ll have to take Rhys away for his own safety. You could be sued for child neglect.”

            “Pfff! You can’t _sue_ me! I’m Handsome GODDAMN Jack!” He kicked at the table leg nearest to him. Somewhere, in the back of his mind it felt like a déjà vu. The table leg at least. Didn’t he break that some time before?

The man didn’t even do so much as flinch. “We’re just protecting a _child_ , since he doesn’t know any better.”

\---

**Thursday 23 February 2XXX**

            “Are we there yet?” Rhys swung on his father’s arm.

            “Not yet.”

            “Where are we going?” The kid frowned, looking around, and not recognising the area.

            “I told you ten minutes ago, cupcake. We’re going to visit the doctor for a scan.”

            “Oh, okay.”

Jack wondered if the kid had forgotten, or if he just didn’t care enough to remember. Nine-year-olds were always so fickle… At least he was laughing. He appeared healthy in all aspects aside from his memory. There wasn’t going to be a repeat of last time, no sir. Definitely not.

Doctor Michaels was the one to greet them, seeming rather happy to see Rhys again. They went through their normal routine, always having to soothe the child before the scan could be performed.

Jack watched through the window as the enormous machine almost sucked up the tiny body. Rhys was looking back at him, his small fingers closed around his favourite rabbit plush. He closed his eyes, probably on command of the doctors.

A nurse kindly directed him to the waiting room, and he bloody let her. His mind was too occupied to fight whatever the shit was going on.

 

And then the doctor came back. He stepped up to the CEO, and removed the glasses from his nose.

            “Where’s Rhys?”

There was silence, doctor Michaels was just staring at him. Jack felt the minutes tick by, precious seconds _wasted_ by a man who did not speak.

            “Where. _Is Rhys_?” He hissed the words, standing up from the uncomfortable chair.

            “Did he take his medication, sir?”

            “What are you talking about?”

            “Did he?”

            “Yes! Of course!”

            “Then _please_ tell me why he has an infection?!” Doctor Michaels lost his cool. Throwing his expensive comm on the ground. It caused anyone who dared to wait in the presence of Handsome Jack to flinch, and scurry to the back of the waiting room.

            “He takes his meds three times a day! During _breakfast, lunch,_ and _dinner_.” He counted them on his fingers, his voice getting louder and louder. “I make sure of it! Now. _Where is Rhys?_ ” The man had to hold himself back from lunging at the doctor. How fucking _dare_ he assume Jack did something wrong?

            “The child is waiting in a hospital room. You can follow me.” Michaels turned around, leaving his comm to make dubious sounds on the tiled floor.

 

Rhys was seated on the white bed, fiddling with Carrot in his hands. He quickly looked up when his father entered the room. The kid jumped off the bed, and leaped in the man’s arms, clinging on as tightly as he possibly could.

Jack hugged him close, eventually pushing him away again. He held on to the boy, staring into his eye. “Rhys. Do you take your pills?”

            “Yes!” The kid nodded vigorously, but averted his gaze.

            “ _Are you sure_?”

Rhys looked around the room, look anywhere but at his father. “I…”

            “Look at me, Rhysie.”

A teary eye locked with his gaze. “ _I don’t remember_.” He bit down on his trembling bottom lip.

_Oh shit._ “Lunch time…” The CEO mumbled. It’s the only time of the day no one monitors him taking his medications. He never thought about it. “I’m so sorry, cupcake. Daddy’s so sorry.” Jack pulled him close again, patting at the kid’s hair. He heard him sniffling, tears making wet splotches on his shoulder.

            “So, he only receives two-thirds of his prescription.”

            “It appears so…”

            “Rhys has to stay here until the infection subsides. We’ll see what to do afterwards.”

When there came no response, the doctor left the room, ordering around a few nurses to get everything in order.

            “It’s going to be okay, pumpkin. I promise.”

            “Kay…”

The kid had become so acceptant of everything. Like nothing mattered anymore. He was home? Good. Fun. Hospital? All right, I guess.

Jack kissed the top of his head, and gently lifted him up. He placed him on the bed, tucking him in under the sheets. “Want me tell you a story?”

            “Yes.” A tiny smile crept on the child’s face.

            “Well then. Once upon a time, there was a _cyborg_!”

Rhys gasped, eye widening with curiosity. “What’s a cyborg?”

The father paused his story telling. “That’s uh, that’s a dude that’s part robot.”

            “Awesome!”

            “Once upon a time, there was a cyborg. He had a robot arm, and a robot eye. He was also a _detective_!”

            “Robo-detective.” Whispered the kid.

            “Yes!” Jack laughed, rubbing circles on his small, thin shoulder with his thumb.

            “What was his name?”

            “Uhh… Rhyyydwyn. Rhydwyn.”

Rhys tried to pronounce that, but gave up after three tries. “What was he investigating?”

            “A really mean person _stole_ ten-million from an _amazing_ company. The CEO had to ask the detective for help.” He continued his story, smiling as over the course of the hour Rhys’ eyes started drooping closed.

\---

Jack kept himself busy with Gortys, installing numerous new features to prevent another fall back. He made sure she had a separate little room for Rhys’ usual medications, and carried a few types of painkillers and anti-inflammatory. “Gortys?”

            “Yes?” Her cheery voice came.

            “Rhys needs to take his medication at precisely at 1pm. Set an alarm.”

            “Yes sir!” She saluted him.

The CEO altered her internal clock, and waited a few seconds.

Gortys’ tiny body started shaking, an obnoxious sound emitting from her belly. She popped her belly open, and shoved pills into Jack’s face.

The man pushed his glasses a bit further up his nose, and took the bunch of pills. Anti-inflammatory. “That won’t do Gortys, these are the wrong pills.”

            “Oh… I am so sorry.”

Jack hummed, continuing to tinker with her functions, and eyeing the AI’s ever changing code on a separate screen. Once he was back on track, he became able to tune out any sounds from the outside world. It was exactly that that made him jump, and yelp when Angel tapped him on the shoulder. “Damn it, Angel!”

            “You should really get some sleep.” She looked worried, retreating her hand.

The man took of his glasses, and ran a hand through his hair. He groaned, eyeing the clock on the wall. “I almost have the issue fixed. I’ll sleep then.”

            “At least eat something.” She put a package of his favourite pretzels on his desk. He hummed something unintelligible back which caused her to roll her eyes. “Just eat something.” She kissed the top of his greasy quiff, and left the room.

            “All right cupcake, let’s try this one more time.” He changed her internal clock to a minute prior to 1pm, and waited.

Once again, the obnoxious alarm filled the quiet room with sound, and Gortys popped out a pill. “Here you go!”

Jack preened at himself for being a genius, because that was the right pill! “Good job, Gortys! I knew I could do it!”

            “Yay!” The little robot started scooting around the room, pill still firmly in her small hands.

The CEO let himself fall back on his arse, and huffed a sigh of relief. He pressed his back against the sturdy desk, causing the bag of pretzels to fall right into his lap. Fate was on his side today. It better stay that way.

\---

Rhys was absolutely ecstatic when his father walked into the room. He quickly pushed himself up to sitting, wincing slightly at the pull of his IV. It didn’t muck up his mood though. “DAD!”

            “Hey there, kiddo!” The father wrapped the bundle of joy up in his arms, swaying him from left to right.

            “I solved the case!” The nine-year-old pushed the man away.

            “Who stole the money?” Jack’s grin was wicked.

            “…The moneyman.” Rhys whispered with a small smile.

            “How’d he do it?” He cupped his small face.

            “With his spy glass. He hacked the system!”

            “Clever boy! That’s _my_ clever boy!” He ruffled the kid’s hair. “So, who do you want to be like? The moneyman?” He made a ‘blergh’ sound. “The detective?” He ‘meh’d’, “Or the powerful, _awesomely **handsome**_ CEO?”

            “Hmm…” He frowned. “Mix!”

            “You can’t _mix_ , ya gotta choose.”

            “No!” He ‘slammed’ his hand on the mattress, which sounded more like a light, dull, ‘thud’. “I wanna _hack_ , I wanna _solve crimes_ , and I wanna have a company!” Rhys got so into this, that his cheeks started to redden.

            “Okay. All right.” Jack hushed him. “Fine. You can be all.” He sighed, relief once more, when the kid started to settle. “Has the doctor been in yet?”

He shrugged. “I’uhno.”

            “Don’t know, or don’t remember. Think before you respond, cupcake.”

            “ _Don’t. Know_.” The little eye narrowed.

            “All right. S’cool.” The father carefully pushed Rhys down so he’d be flat on his back, and relaxed. “We’ll wait. Fingers crossed you’re good to go.”

            “I _feel_ great.”

            “Because you take your meds now.”

            “I guess.” He did his best to shrug, reaching out for carrot. He clutched the little thing close as he usually did when starting to feel distressed. “I don’t like the doctors.”

            “Why not?” Jack frowned at him. “Do I need to hurt them?”

            “ _Yes_. They gave me super gross food.”

            “ _Nasty people_.” Jack grinned, looking around the room. His eye fell on the numerous drawings, and get-well cards. He frowned, plucking a messy drawing off the wall. “Who made this?”

The drawing depicted two fully-clad Hyperion guards, holding little Rhys up. Hearts were all over the place. Drawn by Rhys? Another kid? It was very scratchy and messy.

            “The robots gave it to me yesterday. Said I had to get better soon.”

            “ _Fuckin’ robots_.”

Rhys gasped.

            “That was not a naughty word!”

            “It _so_ was.” He muttered back, eye dark in expression.

            “You heard it wrong.”

            “Did not.”

            “Did so.”

            “ _Did not_.”

            “ _Did so!_ ”

            “ **Did not!** ”

            “ **Did. SO!** It was _not_ a naughty word!” Jack grabbed the kid by his middle, and started tickling him.

He squealed, and kicked his legs caught by the sheets.

A knock on the door made them cease their actions. The doctor cleared his throat, and entered the room with a kind smile. “Good afternoon.”

            “Hey.” The CEO gave him a simple nod of acknowledgement.

            “May I speak to you privately?” The doctor gestured at the hallway.

            “Hallway doesn’t seem _private_ , doc.”

            “We’ll go to my office, of course.”

He rolled his eyes. “Ugh _fine_.” The father scooted his—stolen—wheelchair back, and got up. “Be right back, Rhyscakes.”

            “Kay.” Rhys wiggled his toes, and scrunched his nose at his plush.

 

Jack plopped his arse down on the doctor’s chair, and spread his legs far too wide. It was a way of asserting his dominance, also very comfortable.

Doctor Michaels remained standing, looking through Rhys’ files. “We were lucky this time… that we caught it early I mean. If you had let this go on any longer… I’m sure I don’t need to fill in the blanks.”

            “Yeah, but _luckily_ we _did_ catch it. So, there isn’t a problem.”

            “Sir, do you even understand the severity of this? Rhys could have _died_.”

            “But he didn’t.” Jack waved his finger. Fair point.

In a way, Michaels _knew_ that lengthy explanations didn’t work on Handsome Jack. The man had no patience. But, as a mere courtesy; he still tried. There was no use in continuing. “Sir, I don’t think it’s safe to have Rhys remain in your care. People from child services have noticed _dubious, to say the least_ , things happening around the house.”

            “Dubious like what?!”

He had a list. “You let the child build a robot.”

            “ _Under_ my supervision.”

            “Were insistent that he wasn’t going to make friends of his own age, instead wanting mechanical ones.”

            “He made friends _eventually_.”

            “Left him at a toy store unsupervised.”

            “I panicked.”

            “And let’s not forget the worst one.” The doctor looked at him. “Knowingly kept him from medical care for _two weeks_ when he _clearly_ needed it.”

Yeah, he got nothing for that. Jack was silenced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr: junskay.tumblr.com You can send me messages and stuff on there, I tend to reply.  
> Also, ever since seeing that little bird patting across the screen, I can't help but imagine kid Rhys doing the same? Just going: pap pap pap pap.
> 
> Feel free to comment your thoughts and hopes on the next chapters, I love reading that stuff. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr: http://junskay.tumblr.com/  
> Feel free to comment away regarding your thoughts on the work, and hopes for the next chapter.  
> Thank for reading the first chapter, I hope you stick around.


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